


Sacrifices for Magic: The Walls crumble

by AllKnowingIronQueen



Series: Sacrifices for Magic [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Fantasy, Fights, M/M, Magic, Monsters, Multi, Mutation, Romance, School
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-06-10 11:09:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6954040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllKnowingIronQueen/pseuds/AllKnowingIronQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nature took over ther world again. No streets, no cities, no states. There is no structure at all except for the world government. The world government tries to reconnect the world again and brng it back to its former state. Therefor they need magicians and so they built the Anemo Academy, which collects magicians from all over the world to improve their abilities.</p>
<p>After Crsym Kellum gets his first Defloureo he is finally allowed to enter this academy. What the boy actually hoped for was to have a peaceful life at the academy together with his childhood friend Formeno who entered 5 years before he did. Though due to some change of events, this is no longer possible. Crsym learns more about the world he lives in and the cruel reality.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first story and I really hope you will like it. Also I am always open for critic to improve myself. I was inspired by a lot of different animes and the mortal instruments series.  
> If you have any suggestions just message me as well. I will try to consider all of them.
> 
> Not to forget this story can also be found on Wattpad where it will probably be updated faste than here on Ao3.

 

A figure wearing a suit entered a bar bathed in red light. Meeting another one with a leather jacket who sat there drinking a white misty fluid.

"Yo, been a while huh?"

"Sure business as usual. Right now more than ever. I can't even rest for a moment. I'm actually just here to talk to her you know? Father said she should get ready soon. Also there is something I want to ask her."

"Can't believe you guys are still his puppets."

The one in the leather jacket held a Christian cross.

"Don't you remember what she said back then? No matter what happens. They always fight back. This ability is truly a blessing from all the gods."

"And I can't believe you still hold onto that."  Finally the last one stepped into the room throwing an axe against the wall.

"It is a given fact that this time they can't do anything about what's gonna happen to them."

"Maybe it's because you're the youngest..."

Suit talked to Leather Jacket.

"But you forget that they are naive. Right now they trust people without thinking."

"Then we should help them! We should honour Delia and fight for them!"

"Stop suggesting something impossible! You still know what happened to Phanotis, do you?!"

Weapon began becoming furious the more they talked about it.

"And you still remember that at that time as well we did nothing, right?!"

The figure in the leather jacket threw away the glass and walked out of the bar. Just as Weapon was about to walk after the youngest, Suit held onto the sleeve.

"There is nothing you can do about this behaviour."

Suit took out a list from its pocket.

"Let's first take a look at this."

Weapon looked at it for a while

"A lot of young people are gonna die,huh?"

But something was striking on the list.

"Hey what's with this name? Only half affected?"

Looking at the name weapon pointed at Suit was surprised as well.

"Wait...what? I'm confused. That's not possible."

"When did you receive this list?"

"Just a while ago father gave it to me."

Suddenly white light was send off of Suit's watch.

"Hey can you ask father about this Kellum guy? I have to go now. Work is calling me."

Without listening to Weapons complains about it the other figure disappeared with a grin.

"Why always me?! Geez I have to work as well."

Now Weapon talked alone in the room. Though this one knew that there was no helping it. It was a special case and it had to be asked.

This must have been a big mistake in the department. Walking off to get it done as soon as possible Weapon now left the bar like the other two.

 

* * *

 

 The wind was calm on that day and he could still remember how his friend's silky black hair flowed because of it. They ran into the forest near their village to be alone. Just the two of them.

It was the first time Crsym witnessed real magic.

The other person held out one hand and clenched it. Sparks slowly spread from it. It was like there was small firework inside the pale skin around it.

The hand was opened again and the black haired boy produced a red glowing crystal ball in the size of a clover petal.

"This is for you. A token of our precious friendship. ",his friend said as he opened his lavender eyes.

Crsym’s eyes were wide open.

"Really?! Thanks Formeno."

 "I will definitely be able to make one with your eye colour as well soon.", he continued.

 "I will look forward to it.", Formeno smiled. A smile which brightened his whole day over and over again.

 

That was the last thing Crsym saw in his dream before he woke up.

The boy yawned one last time before looking at the alarm clock on his night stand.

Then he ruffled through his own brown messy hair.

Despite being awake already the teenager **'** s alarm would not go off in the next hour. But gathering all the strength he had in the mornings, the boy stood up to open his window.

His red eyes skimmed the village. Only a few people were awake at this hour.

The grass was shinning in the sun and the barn animals were out.

As the sun rose higher the few brick house's shadow began to grow.

In the distance the old windmill made creaking noises.

It was a small and peaceful village. 

Crsym inhaled the fresh air. Knowing that soon he would not be able to do it anymore.

The brunette walked over to the mirror and looked at the black mole-like spot on his right cheek.

A smile formed in his face the longer he looked at it.

This dark blue spot or “Defloureo” as they called it, which could easily be mistaken for a mole was a sign  that a person born with magic abilities had now enough power to enter the magician school ,Anemo Academy to improve their skills.

As soon as Crsym thought about this school he smiled.

He'd finally be able to see Formeno again.

His friend who was always ahead of him.

His friend who had the most shining eyes Crsym ever saw.

His friend which he could not forget this whole 5 years since he left.

When the red eyed male got his Defloureo a few days after his 16th birthday he could not believe it. It was as if he could burst from happiness any minute.

 

Suddenly Crsym heard a knocking at his wooden door.  It was opened slowly and a small girl entered his room.

"Mornin' " she muttered as she rubbed over her right eye with her tiny hands.

The small girl had blond hair just like her mother and her green eyes were only half open.

The child wore her pink pony pyjamas.

Crsym lifted her up.

" Hey don't kids your age need to sleep probably **?** Why are you already awake?"

"Mom said you should get ready." The blond one said in a sleepy voice.

"I still have some time left."

"You stinking dumbass. Go and take a shower." 

The older one could not believe his ears.

His little baby sister just called him dumbass.

“What?”

Crsym was shocked by his sister´s choice of words. He did not know where she could have picked up those words.

"...is what mom said.", the child finally added, sensing her brother's inner breakdown.

 

The older brother put his sister down and went down the stairs, straight into the kitchen. The ground creaked with each step he took. 

His mother stood there. While wearing a black top and jogging pants. Leaning against the fridge as she sipped her usual coffee.  A real tomboy even in her age. The tall woman turned down the radio and looked over to her son.

" Mornin' my magical girl." , the adult grinned.

Crsym rolled his eyes as he heard the woman´s favourite insult to all guys, who were magicians. Maria Kellum, it was really hard to believe that this was a woman with two children.

The boy did not know much about his mother. Whenever he or Jade asked her something about her past, she played it off as a joke.

"How could you let Jade say these words?!"

Even through many people would call his mother "a cool person" or "funny", Crsym could not agree with any of that. He loved her but it did not change the fact that she was irresponsible.

His red eyes stared intensively into her green ones.

"What are you gonna do 'bout it? Turn me into a frog?"

The sarcasm was clear in her voice.

The boy sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"C'mon it was funny, right? Also you shouldn't look so grumpy on your first day."

The response was only a deep groan.

She ran a hand through her blond short hair as she watched her son going to the bathroom. The two of them definitely had the same habit about their hair.

The woman started to make breakfast.

 

An hour past and the brunette was finally ready.

His suitcase was full with all the things he needed.

His hair was tamed and the way he liked it, nonetheless it still seemed a bit messy. But it was the kind of messy hair he liked.

And not to forget he wore the uniform he received after getting applied for the school. 

It was a white shirt with a purple tie which had golden stripes crossing it. The golden hand with the magical moon circle, the school's logo, was also seen on the head of the bound tie.

Over that he wore a beige cardigan and grey pants.

The most important thing was put in the last. The red crystal ball Crsym still had from that time.

It was put in the pants pocket.

 

Finally the teenager was ready.

Before he realized it, Crsym was being pulled into a hug by his mother. Her muscular arms warped around his body and pushed her son closer to her.

"I know, I'm not the best mom in the world but even I get worried about my children so take care and call me once in a while."

It was a long time since the son saw his mother like this.

Worried, scared and happy at the same time. Maybe she was not that bad.

"I'll be alright. You just take care of Jade and yourself of course."

The young magician slowly pushed the woman away and smiled at her.

Jade was the next one to hug. The little girls grip was strong for her age.

"Do you really have to go?"

Crsym did not seem to have another choice but smile.

"Well, if I don't we won't get more money and then we can't buy you new toys."

“New toys?”

Loosening hr grip a little bit, the blond girl got curious.

“You know, since the school is working together with the world government to reconnect the world again, the government gives ach family which send their children to this school some presents.”, he explained it to her.

As if it was a spell the little arms immediately let go.

"Okay."

 

The now official student of the Anemo Academy put on his black shoes and took a step outside. Seeing his family waving their hands for him one more time as he looked back, the teenager felt sadder than before. It was a shame that they could not come with him to search for the other student but the school did simply not allow it for unknown reasons.

The instruction on the reply letter said that ´'as a new magician' he was going to be picked up by another student. Even though they did not tell him, how exactly they were going to pick him up. Mori is a small village and with state of the current world, it would not be easy.

Another problem that came up was, finding the other student. All the letter said about the other student was: “You will know when you see him/her. “

 As the boy walked on, trying to find that certain student, his red eyes finally found someone striking.

 

In front of the windmill a girl was drawing something with a giant wooden wand.

Her blue hair were covering her eyes and she also wore the school's uniform.

Her pigtails were low and whenever she drew a rough line on the ground they sprung forth and back.

They were right. Catching her just by one glimpse, already gave way that this girl might be. The Uniform made it even more obvious.

"We're gonna be late if you just stand there. Take your things and get in the centre."

As soon as the blue haired female was done, she looked at the boy with her golden eyes. The way she spoke was rough but the girl did not seem like a bad person.

Her gaze was captivating and Crsym could not look away.

The new student saw how these golden orbs got closer. That also made him notice the Defloureo on the others' face.  Five of them were on her right cheek and three more on the other side.

"What are you staring at? Hurry up." The female student seemed to be slightly annoyed by the way the young male acted. The guy just stared at her like a new born baby who saw the television for the first time.

With her pale and fragile looking body she took his luggage and dragged it near the circle.

Exhausted.

She did not even got 3 meters away from him.

Crsym could not help but let out a muffled laugh.

"Sorry, I spaced out let me carry it."

Her cheeks puffed.

"As if. You will only ruin the transportation circle. I have a better idea."

The girls pouting face became a proud one.

The eyelids went down halfway. Her long eyelashes were now visible.

Her right hand was spread out in Crsym´s direction.

Her left hand was spread out in the suitcase direction.

Her golden orbs seemed to shine more than before. No. They were practically glowing.

Again he was taken by her. Suddenly the boy felt something. Or whether he did not feel something that he should feel.

The ground under his feet was far away now.

His eyes peeked down. The ground was far away from his feet. He was flying.

"Wh- what the-?!"

Before the guy knew what was happening, his body was swung in the air and slowly landing in the middle of the circle followed by his suitcase.

Satisfied with what she has done, the female magician tiptoed her way to the inner circle.

Crsym still could not say anything. He did not even know what should be said.

Her glowing stopped and her smile turned into a huge grin.

"See? I don't need any help."

The girl took his silence as a compliment.

The bluenette thrust the wand in the middle of the circle.

The sudden cold touch of her hand on Crsym´s shoulder finally woke him from his trance. Her hand led his to the steady wooden wand, which began to curl up on the top for some reason.

"Hold onto it."

Then she started to whisper.

"When time flies by, life does as well."

The outer ring started glowing and the zodiac signs appeared around them.

"Chronos allowed me not to waste my time as I keep on living.", the girl continued.

Chronos name was written in old Greek in the middle ring all over.

chronos was written in old Greek in the middle ring all over. From what she has said Crsym assumed that this would mean Chronos, as his Greek knowledge was almost non-existent. All he knew were a few letters because there has been the Greek alphabet in one of his former school books which he only remembered because at that time he found it interesting.

"Please send me and....", her eyes locked with his.

"...this fool to Anemo Academy."

The ground started to tremble. Shaking furiously.

The spot they were standing on shone in many different colours. A rainbow glowed underneath their feet.

And for the glimpse of an eye Crsym thought that he saw a destroyed and devastated place instead of his village. That was when he got unconscious. 


	2. The missed Introduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is the first chapter of the story. I know it took a while but please enjoy it. I look forward to hear your opinions about my story.

His heavy eyelids opened slowly.  
The first thing that was spotted was a fluffy green bush and he felt two arms warped around him. It was heavy and it felt like another person was lying on top of him.  
Crsym tried to stand up.

Suddenly it struck him. There WAS another person lying on top of him and he was wearing a white sweatshirt and black short pants.  
The person has wrapped himself around Crsym and hugged him like a body pillow.  
The boy even felt some drool on his skin as the other’s face was near his neck .

Wondering where he was the magician observed the room. It was a simple room with white walls. He was lying on the bottom of a bunk bed.  
Two desks were placed in one corner. The room had enough space and seemed comfortable but that did not help Crsym with his question of what kind of place this was.

“Where am I?”, the young magician mumbled while trying to wake up the other one.  
The green bush person started groaning and moving.  
"What time?", he asked still not making any efforts to get up from Crsym.

Starting to look around, the crushed boy found a clock above the door.

"Ehm...7:55"

The greenette flinched and out of nowhere the now revealed person being a boy, threw himself on the ground. He jumped to his feet. His green-yellow eyes widened in terror.

"Stop lying around or we'll be late for class!"  
As the word “class" was mentioned the new student could finally take a deep breath.  
Or that was what he had thought of at first.  
Clothes flew around the room like in a hurricane. In the centre of it the new student who got up in hurry. Crsym still wore the uniform he put on yesterday but his tie was loose and the belt was open.

"What class?! But I didn't even get an introduction yesterday!"  
Confused his red orbs followed the green haired boy. 

"Yes you did!"

Whenever the brunette tried to ask the person what was going on, the green haired boy just screamed “We´re doomed!” again and again.

Inside Crsym’s head everything spun around. In one moment pants were landing on his head and in the other moment the other boy seemed to have a fight with his tie as his little body struggled around the room.

Taking Crsym by the hand the stranger dragged him out.  
Not being able to sort his thoughts he did not even notice them running through the floors without a chance to take in his new environment. Soon the boys ran out of one building into another one. The only good thing was that Crsym has already been dressed in his uniform when he woke up. But somehow he could not shake off the feeling that he forgot something essential.

Eventually they burst into the classroom.

"We're not late!", the other guy shouted as soon as they entered.  
Suddenly the new student felt something falling down from his waist.

Laughter. 

It took the green eyed boy a while until he realized why the whole class laughed.  
"Dude! Pull up your fucking pants!" The green haired one pointed at his lower body with a loud voice.

"My pants?"  
The brunette followed the pointing finger with his eyes.  
Crsym’s face turned into the colour of his eyes. Flushed red like a tomato.  
His red "Big Boy" boxers were clearly visible. The pants were down to his knees. That was the one important thing the young magician forgot. Hey may have been dressed this morning but because of all the humbling and stumbling the boy did not notice that his belt was not closed.

"All because you dragged me out before I could close my belt!"  
The words he managed to get out of his mouth were meant to be angry but instead they sounded more like they were filled with embarrassment.

The other person waved his hands in front of Crsym’s red face as if to cool it off.  
"D-don't worry, okay?!"

His hands went to his pants. The laughter grew louder as the green haired let down his pants.  
This time blue penguins were seen underneath.

Proud with his selfless action the other teenager put his hands on his hips and smiled.  
"See? Now you aren't the only one anymore."

Crsym could not take it any longer. He was sure his head was going to explode soon.

"Both of you pull up your pants and sit down!" A voice rang from behind.

As commanded Crysm pulled up his pants not daring to look at the person.  
Meanwhile the other guy seemed to smile.

"Good morning Mrs. Dandel"  
"....Just sit down Ivy. And take the new one with you"  
It was directed to Crsym as well now.

Again the guy called Ivy took the new student by his hand and led him to two free seats.  
Now that Crsym was sitting he could admire the classroom.  
A giant room in which at least 50 person fitted.  
The white walls were decorated with the golden, noble looking school emblem all over.  
Written texts seemed to be floating over an almost invisible thing called the "Blueboard”.

This kind of technology was rare and actually belonged to the "Forgotten World".  
Nowadays people lead simple lives again. Small villages or a small group of travellers but no cities and such things. Nature took over the planet again with its forests.  
Of course a little bit of the modern time was left. There was electricity and some small devices still worked but it was not anything big like cars or planes.

Finally he looked at his teacher.

She was an old woman with long white greyish hair, which was tied up like a ball on top of her head. But despite her hair colour she did not seem too old. The woman may had eye bags as if she had not slept for days but even so she just had small wrinkles.

His new neighbour elbowed him.  
"Don't stare at her or she'll snap."  
A huge grin formed in the fluffy haired´s face.

"By the way my name is Ivy Eferus."  
The red eyes widened as the smaller boy got closer and the green fluffy curls seemed to jump with each move the boy made.

The brunette moved back trying to gain a little distance. But since the tables were all connected and surrounding the room it was impossible to do that without disturbing someone else.

"M- my name is Crsym Kellum."

Not trying to get distracted by the other boy Crsym looked back to the teacher.

"It's the same as every year anyway. You don't need to listen", Ivy whispered as he leaned on Crsym’s shoulder ignoring the young magician´s need of personal space.

The elder woman´s face turned in their direction.  
"So Mr. Eferus if it's the same as every year then you could explain as well!"  
It seemed like even though the woman was old she could hear the smallest noise.

"With pleasure Mrs. Dandel"  
The small boy stood up from his seat and saluted towards his teacher.  
He climbed on the table and posed like an old man with back problems.  
This guy had no shame, Crsym thought by himself.

"So my dear class like always and every year I have to warn you.", his cheerful voice became shaking and pitched high on purpose.

"If you ever meet one of the "Outcast" you must be ready to run or to fight. They certainly are our greatest enemies and betrayers of mankind itself."

"The Outcast?", the new boy asked without a second thought.

His neighbour bent down in his direction  
"You don't know?"

"It seems like it's not the same for everyone."  
The teacher pinned some pictures on the Blueboard.

Ivy stopped with his bad copy of Mrs. Dandel and jumped down from the table again.  
To receive the applause he thought he deserved for this nice performance the green haired boy bowed down.

"Ivy...." the woman´s voice sounded stressed.

"Yes?" The students eyes seemed to shine and the golden circles around his iris in them could be clearly seen.

"Sit down!"

Ivy slumped down on his seat.  
"Fine."

The whole class looked at the three pictures.  
Two small girls and a young man.  
The two children both had brown hair. One is curly, the other just wavy. Both of the girls had one thing in common. Their pitch blacked eyes.  
Nonetheless the girls on the pictures did not appear like a danger to him.

The man had short black hair and a flat top cut like any other solider. On the photo the guy wore a usual camouflage uniform.

"These kids and a man are our enemies?"  
The red-eyed student could not believe it.

"These pictures are outdated. Nobody ever saw them or heard of them since that day. They could be dead by now." , a girl from the back row commented.

"Still the government warned us and wants to warn us again every year. I bet these old men just want to scare us."

Ivy placed his palm on his cheek as he continued.  
"It's not like these guys will come to scout us to be Outcast or something."

"You never know Mr. Eferus! The real danger is that these two girls belong to the rare elemental magicians."  
The old woman drew a circle around the two pictures.  
"It is said that they are the strongest of all. The fire magician Magarite and the water magician Iris."

The woman´s finger pointed at the man's picture.  
"Followed by a soldier who betrayed our government. And his betrayal was what exactly, Mr. Melton"  
The finger went from the photo to the door.

As the door opened a familiar face entered the room and answered the teachers question immediately.  
"By taking the young girls away from their safety place at the government´s seat where they learned to control their powers."

The new guy in the room did not even bother to wear the uniform. Just a plain white shirt and black jogging pants paired with black boots.  
His black hair seemed silky.  
The lavender eyes were focused on the ground as if there was something interesting.  
Even though he was a boy the long eyelashes, the longer strands on the left side of his hair and the pale skin gave him a slightly feminine appearance.

"Formeno~"  
The cheerful and loud troublemaker of the class sang his classmates name.

"Formeno?!"  
Crsym jumped out of his seat.

Ignoring both of them the beautiful person just placed himself in the back row in the right corner.

The woman who was still standing at the very front did not seem to be amused by her students behaviour.  
"Kellum, Eferus and Melton!"  
She lost her cool, that is if she ever had some.  
"Deten-!"

As the punishment was about to be announced, a deep male voice stopped her.  
"Now, now Mrs. Dandel don't be too hard on these boys."

The mentioned teacher bowed down as the presence entered the room.  
A slender white haired man took a step into the classroom.  
His brown eyes skimmed the room.  
He wore a strange purple suit with a red bow tie around the collar.

"What can I do for you, principal?", the woman approached the man.

"Oh I was just searching for our young Eferus and Mister Kellum. Also I saw a wandering student and brought him here."  
His white greyish moustache formed a second smile over his actual one.

The black haired student turned his face to the window without saying a single word.

With a loud and long sigh the principal faced the other two students he came for.  
"Both of you come with me."

Not even waiting a second he walked ahead.  
The two boys immediately stood up and followed.

As the three of them stood in front of the elevator Crsym observed it, since he never saw one in his life.  
When it arrived on their floor, a small bell rang.  
The oldest of the three stepped in and just when the other two wanted to join he stopped them.  
"You two will take the stairs."

"What?! Your office is on the tenth floor!", his small neighbour immediately protested.

The button to the head floor was already pushed.  
"I will await you in two minutes."  
With that the door closed again and it began to move upwards.  
The last thing to be seen was his small smile.

But of nowhere Ivy ran to the stairs and Crsym at his heel after realizing their situation.

"Hurry up that guy is dead serious."  
The curls jumped up and down again with each step.

"What?! He wasn't joking?!"  
Even though his smile was so gentle?  
It was impossible. This man had such a calm and kind atmosphere around himself.

After climbing to the fifth floor they were already exhausted using the strength that was left to pull and force their bodies. The following step always seemed harder than the other.

With a lot of force, sweat and panting they finally reached the floor.  
Just as Crsym was about to open the door it opened itself. Almost crashing right into his face, if he had not stepped back at the right time.

The girl from yesterday came out not looking amused a bit.

"We're busted Ivy."  
After saying this she left without another word.

"Busted? But what does that have to do with me?"  
The red eyes fixed on the person beside him hoping for an answer.  
To his disappointment he just saw a dorky and nervous smile.

"Enter."  
They heard the principals calm voice.

The magician students did as they were told and there stood the older man leaning against his wooden desk. The whole room was covered in earth colours which made it very nostalgically as it reminded the brunette of the forest that surrounded his village.  
Pictures decorated the high and green walls all over  
On his desk there was a big blue screen and a little shield with the name Mr. Anemo written on it.  
So the school was named after him.

"You both are late."  
Again Crsym met this gentle smile.

"Well you only gave us 2 minutes."  
The boy´s right hand went up to his bouncy hair and played with the curls by pulling them and letting go again.

The kind smile turned into a stern look.  
"Ivy Eferus don't think my patience is endless. You should know why I called you here."

"Ehm...sir?"  
Finally Crsym found his voice again.  
"I can imagine that Ivy did something wrong but can I also ask why I was called here?"  
Even Though He did only know Ivy for a short while the new student could already imagine what kind of person the greenette was.

"Well it's simple. Ivy made trouble while using your body."

The feeling of harassment reached the boy as he covered his upper body by crossing his arms over it.  
"He used my body?!"

Now it was the other boy´s turn to blush.  
"Not like that!"

A loud sigh was let out. As well as a laughter from the old man.  
"You see young man, this kid has the ability to posses others bodies. So to make it short after some mistakes yesterday including getting you unconscious he took over your body and went to your introduction so no one gets to know."

Finally Crsym understood what Ivy meant this morning when he said that the boy already had the introduction. Not a single word was said. Not a single movement followed after hearing that.  
Until Ivy faced Crsym.  
"Sorry about that."

"Sorry doesn't sweeten my soup!"

"Sweet soup?" The troublemaker titled his head in confusion.

"You get the point!" The other boy shouted back.

"C'mon don't be like that. It was actually really funny."

"For you! You...You can´t just use other´s bodies without permission!"

"Well, my eyes say something different."

As the two male students´ quarrel got bigger the principal finally went between these two. Arguments and accusations flew back and forth.

"Ivy go to your next lesson. Mr. Kellum you will be having your real introduction with me now."

The smaller student saluted obediently.  
But when he almost touched the doorknob the old man added something to his statement.  
"Your punishment will be the same as Ms. Agapao´s. So go and ask her about at the latest this evening."

After a loud groan the sound of the closing door followed.

The adult man sat down on his chair facing the newcomer.  
"You can also sit down."  
He pointed to the chairs across from him.  
The boy did as he was told. His red eyes fixed on the principals bluish grey ones. Now was not the time to be nervous.

Even though Crsym told himself that, his body seemed to have its own will and shook furiously.

"So young man you can start. Tell me something about yourself."  
The man smiled.

"R-right!"  
His answer was shot out of his mouth like a bullet.

"My name is Crsym Kellum. I'm 16 now and got my first Defloureo a few days after my birthday. I'm living in a small village called Mori. My family consists of my mother Maria Kellum, me and my little sister Jade Kellum." 

When he finally finished he silently let out a breath. 

"And what kind of magic do you use?" 

As the question lied in the room now. The boys confusion level ran up to 100.  
"What kind of magic?"

The white haired man was surprised by the lack of knowledge.  
" Well young man, the magicians powers can be decided by the colour of their eyes. As far as I know there were never any red ones like yours." 

After reflecting the situation for a minute Mr Anemo continued.  
"I guess if you yourself don't know your powers, we'll have to test you."  
The man crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Test?"  
Crsym, who was still lost in his thoughts finally stopped spacing out.

"Yes beside the theoretical lessons you will be attending others ability lessons each day for now."  
The old wrinkled hands went to take some sheets out and placed it on the table.  
Dots in different colours and explanations beside them were shown on the document: 

Yellow- the ability to transport things and persons with the mind. This magic can be boosted with a wand and learned spells.

The boy remembered the girl, who picked him up from his small village.

Green, with a yellow circle- the power to posses other living beings bodies. A big risk is that the actual body is unprotected while the mind and soul are somewhere else.

Green, with a blue ring- this kind of magic boosts the body's inner abilities like strength, speed, etc.

Green with a purple circle- the simple but useful magic of reading others mind. This also allows the user to communicate with other creatures.

Pink- this magic allows the user to form his/ her body however he/she wants it. 

Lavender- A magicians thoughts can materialise and produced it in their hands. The success of this magic depends on the users imagination and the details of his/her creation. 

His best friends face popped up in his mind.

That's it. It was true. Red eyes weren't even mentioned in this list.  
Crsym skimmed the text over and over. It was a short list he did not even know why he still hoped to find something on it.

"As you can see Mr Kellum these are all the magical powers we know."  
Mr Anemo took back the sheet.

" This will also be the order of the ability lessons you will be attending these following weeks." ,the man continued explaining.  
Which meant the first ability lesson would be the transportation magic.  
The student nodded as he understood. 

"Ms Agapao will be your guide for today."  
The old man smiled. 

"Agapao?" Crsym tilted his head in confusion. He knew that the principal mentioned the name before but he couldn't fit a face to the name yet.

"The young miss with the blue hair. She was in charge of picking you up."  
Finally the boy knew the girls name.  
The girl, who called him a fool at their first meeting.  
Crsym remember how he saw her leaving this room a few minutes ago.  
Just when the students mind was hung on her there was a loud and aggressive knock. 

Entering the room without response, the girl entered the office.  
The flashing golden jewels took away the boys breath.  
Under her arm she held two books, which you couldn't possibly read in a week.  
"I brought what you wanted Mr. Anemo."  
Agapao approached the two males.

Mr. Anemo nodded.  
"Good. Then how about taking the new student with you?" 

While clicking her tongue her tanned, slim hand grabbed his collar and pulled him away.

Crsym only responded with a quick spurring.

After they left the room Agapao let go of him.  
"Follow."  
A single word was all she said and then just moved forward without looking back.  
"W-wait."  
The boy tried to keep up with her.  
That was when he realized that this girl behaved like this since their first meeting.  
Then again maybe that is how she acted towards everyone?  
Taken by his thoughts Crsym could not avoid running into the other student.

Her doll like face became sour.  
"Watch your step idiot." 

Now he knew it. It was definitely something against him.  
"Did I ever do something to you?!" 

The teenagers glared at each other. 

Just when Agapaos' mouth opened to respond something came in between.

"Daisy~!"  
The blue haired magician was hugged from behind.  
Again green hair but this time it wasn't curly. This persons' eyes were also not the same colour.  
Another girl appeared behind his guide.  
She had a bob-cut and just like Agapao golden eyes.  
"Are you bullying someone again?"  
The newly arrived girl referred to Crsym.

"Daisy? I thought your name was Agapao."  
The referred boy asked at the same time.

"I'm not bullying anyone."  
Answering the girl's question first, the bluenette shook the other female's hand off and turned her attention towards Crsym again.  
"And Agapao is my surname jerk." 

Finally Daisy Agapao entered the room, where their lesson was held. 

The brunette and the other student stared after her dumbfounded.  
Breaking the silence the other girl let out a forced giggle.  
"I bet she just had a bad day or something. My name is Clover Luckers by the way." 

Clover smiled at Crsym. At last the first normal person he met at this academy.  
The teenagers followed their classmate into the room. 

"Woah!"  
Impressed by how many pupil could use telekinesis the young magician lost his composure.  
Each student stood in a drawn circle and had a book lying next to them.

But when he saw the other student´s eyes he didn't get the same feeling as when he looked into Daisy's eyes. Hers seemed to be more intense than Clover´s.

The girl beside him pushed him to another spot.  
"C'mon your guide won't wait forever." 

Crsym stood beside the bluenette. 

"Before you do anything read the theory part first."  
Daisy held out both of the books she carried under her arm. 

"But not bo-"  
Before he could even ask his question his classmate already answered.  
"Yes, both of them. You can read the rest after the lesson as some kind of homework." 

Clover laughed when Crsym’s mouth hung wide open.

The guide lead the new student to a corner.  
"For now you can sit in this corner and read. If you are determined, you may finish them in two or three days."  
That was a lie and the boy knew it. Daisy grinned at him mockingly. This girl was rather enjoying this.

As usual Crsym’s hand found its way to his hair again.  
"Fine "  
It's not worth fighting for something like this. He repeated it over and over again in his head. Also she seemed too tough.

After a few minutes a teacher finally came in.  
Only sparring a quick glance at Crsym, the bald man in the black suit began with his lessons. 

Even though the magician had 3 hours to read the books he could not even finish half of the first one.  
The telekinesis students distracted him too much.  
Lifting up things or their classmates was amazing. At the end all of them put their powers together and almost lifted up the building. It may have failed but the brunette felt the ground trembling.

Clover pushed Daisy towards Crsym after the lesson was over. They seemed to argue while coming closer to the point where the both of them stood in front of the new student.  
Again Agapao's expression seemed like she was about to kill him.

"Daisy didn't you want to say something?" The girl with the bob-cut forced her more forward. 

"Since you don't know anyone yet...would you like to hang out with us?"  
The other girl chewed on her bottom lip while she asked.  
This time she was not giving him a sour look but looked somehow filled with guilt.  
Was she sorry for her behaviour? But why?  
It was hard to turn them down even though the boy still wanted to talk with Formeno.  
After a few seconds he gave in and smiled.  
"Sure." 

The girls lead him to the Unity room in which the students could hang out together in their freetime since they were not allowed to leave the building until graduation.  
While walking, Crsym finally had the chance to look around probably.  
When he was running to the class with Ivy this morning the brunette could hardly see his surroundings. 

A round building was circled by the colourful dorms, which represented the magicians that lived there.  
In front of the round building his room-mate stood there.  
Next to him were two other students.  
One of them was a girl and the one a boy with the same hair colour.  
A darker shade of red covered their heads.  
Crsym’s group was getting closer to them and they were finally noticed by Ivy and the other two.  
Both of the redheads came dashing towards the new student and pushed Daisy and Clover away. 

"Woah, bro, he really has red eyes."  
The girl´s lavender eyes widened in surprise.  
She was rather small and skinny.

Her brother smirked and skimmed Crsym with the green purplish orbs.  
This guy was tall and muscled.  
Surely what girls would call handsome and Crsym would not object to that.  
"Maybe we should make him your boyfriend Rose. His eyes go great together with your hair." 

A sudden wave of heat crept up the new magicians face.  
"W-What?" 

"Stop teasing him."  
Ivy went between them. 

The unknown guys' grin grew wider as he hugged his sister dramatically.  
"Sorry didn't know he was already yours."

Just blushing strongly the usual clown did not even deny it.

"Sear, don't you think he is a bit too handsome for Ivy."  
Rose slung herself around her brother´s body.

Another green haired person forced herself between them.  
Clovers face was twitching slightly. She certainly did not seem so normal anymore.  
"Stop it both of you."  
She put her arm around Sears.  
"Rose how about you walk ahead and get us something to drink?"  
It was more like an order rather than asking a friend for something.

The red haired girl let go off her brother.  
"S-sure"  
Without letting another minute pass she made her way to the Unity room.

A quick glance after the girl was enough to know that she was not comfortable next to the green haired telekinesis student.  
But not only Crsym noticed that. Daisy glared at the girl around Sear's arm as well.

"I'll go after rose."  
The bluenette ran and tried catch up to the mentioned person.

"Well then we will make sure we get a nice place to chill."  
Clover went back to her usual attitude. 

All of them were in the room now.  
The teenagers sat a place near the window.  
Soft brown sofas and couches were placed around a small black table. They even had a well working radio which's sound echoed in the room.  
It seemed like all of the liked the same drink, vanilla milk, which might also have been the reason they bought their new friend the same without asking.  
Time passed quickly as the group talked about their lessons and asked Crsym all kinds of questions.  
All of sudden a certain someone approached them. To be exact this person approached Daisy and Rose, who sat next to each other.

"Well if it isn't our Mr. talented and beautiful."  
The blue haired one commented as soon as she saw him. 

Formeno stroke back the long stands of his hair behind his ears.  
He did not even greet them and went straight to his point not even noticing his childhood friend's smile directed at him.  
"Can I borrow your spare uniforms?" 

Blushingly the guys looked at Formeno, their mouths hanging open.  
Is this guy out of his mind?! Daisy will rip him apart for this.  
Worrying about his friend Crsym was about to change the subject but Daisy responded faster than he could think.  
"Sure."  
The students answer was calm just like the others.  
"Well, no problem for me."  
Rose smiled.

Remaining with a not caring face the black haired magician nodded.  
"Then I'll get them before bedtime. Would that be alright?"  
Both of the girls agreed.  
As the boy leave Crsym stood up and went after him ignoring the others calls after him.

"Hey, Formeno wait!"  
Finally he caught up to his friend.  
Outside the Unity room the two boys faced each other for the first time in 5 years.  
"I was looking for you since I came here. Did you not recognise me?"  
Crsym added.

"I did."  
A typical short answer like back then.  
"But I don't want to talk to you."  
This was the shocking part. It was as if hi friend just slapped him.  
"Rather than not talking to you I actually don't even want to be near you. So could you do me a favour and just leave me alone or something."  
The more he continued the worse it got.  
"I don't want to have anything to do with a weirdo like you.  
With these words Formeno just left Crsym behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo how was it? ;) I hope you had a good time reading it. Please leave comments so that can improve myself.   
> The second chapter will be uploaded soon as well and this time it won´t take as long as the first chapter.


	3. Anemo's secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Crsym gets used to his new life, things are starting to get intresting at Anemo Academy. And that is in more than just one way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello.  
> Thank you for reading Sacrifices for Magic. 12 readers may not seem a lot but it surely is for me. I am an yet unkown writer and so it makes me happy that at people give this story and me a chance.   
> Thank you all for reading and please enjoy it.  
> Also if you find any mistakes or something like that, please inform me. Your opinion i important to me.  
> Well, then enough babbling. This chapter is where the story finally gets interesting so have fun with it. ^^

It had been five months now since Crsym started attending the academy.   
He still could not get over his friend´s rejection towards him.  
The good thing was that the teenager made other friends as by hanging out with Ivy.   
Despite Daisy mocking him for no reason and Sear being a constant Jerk , the boy got along with them really well.   
Whatever happened they treated the new student as if he belonged to their little family. The bad side of this friendship was however that whenever one of them got in trouble they were all associated to that and punished as the troublemakers partners.   
Like that time when Ivy and Crsym were bored and used the elevator as some kind of toy. So the two boys just pushed every bottom until it broke. Normally the brunette was not someone to do so but using such technology and seeing Ivy having fun just drove him to join the grenette.  
Clover, Daisy, Rose and Sear all had to take detention with them.   
Crsym also tried to forget what happened with Formeno and the fact that he was not able to use any magic he learned so far by just having fun with the group. But the lesson theme always came up eventually when they talked about their lessons. It did bother him and when one of his new friends noticed this person tried to make the others shut up immediately which actually made it worse. It showed that his friends could not talk about everything they wanted to next to the useless magician.  
He did not know why he still could not do it. His eyes certainly made him belong to the category of the magicians. They were bright and normal humans did not have red eyes as far as he knew. Of course his hair had a rather natural colour unlike Ivy´s hair but a lot of other students had a normal hair colour as well.

After his usual theoretical lesson with Mrs. Dandel the student left the classroom together with his neighbour and found a beautiful girl leaning against the wall opposite of the door.   
She played with the ends of her purple hair.  
The female magician was tall and had a perfectly formed body.   
Her pink lips looked soft and her pink eyes were stunning paired with her tanned skin.   
As if it was fate she caught him starring at her before her face formed a seducing expression.   
Closing the distance between them she brushed Crsym´s arm in an elegant motion.  
"Oh my, nobody told me the new student would be this good looking."   
The new one felt his face heating up. 

Before the slender hand moved anywhere else Ivy got a hold of it.  
"Don't you know what personal space is Oridé?"  
Usually Ivy was somehow someone who seemed friendly with everyone.   
Even in class Crsym and the boy were surrounded by other classmates joking with him.  
But right now the small guy had a disgusted face and eyebrows knitted in anger.  
"Oh, if it isn't our little gay child."   
Oridé grinned as she observed the green haired magician whose mood worsened. A mass of other students just quietly watched the scene and whispered among each other. Nobody even told that girl not to talk in such a manner.

If Mrs Dandel had not approached it would have ended up in a fight with insults.  
"Hey don't you have other lessons to attend! Get to your classrooms! Now!" 

Going off in defeat Ivy did not even wait for his friend to say goodbye and left.

The red eyes followed the green haired magician until he was pulled away. 

"Hey you should be looking at your guide for today."   
A quick wink and he was dragged into his next lesson.  
“Guide?” ,Crsym tilted his head.   
Actually he had physical change lesson with a black haired boy called Sakura.  
“Yes. You know our dear Sakura seemed to be sick today. So I will be taking his place as your guide today.” 

On their way Oridé kept talking to him and complemented the new magician or just bad mouthing his friends.  
“So why do you even hang out with these losers?”  
“Why? And who do call losers?”  
It was seriously starting to annoy him but Crsym tried to stay calm.  
“Oh you must have already noticed. Each of them suck at something. Daisy is trying to get attention by being the not so girly girl, Clover well, let’s just say she is Sear’s toy and that boy is just a big flirt who thinks he could get anyone to sleep with him. His stupid sister is so skinny that it’s already giving me goosebumps just looking at her bones sticking out.”  
Oridé shivered.   
She was a beautiful girl but Crsym realized that this term did not apply to her personality.   
He endured her voice to a certain point.  
"You know what I said about Ivy was also true. So if you don't want to be harassed by another man I would avoid him."   
Her stunning smile from before seemed like the one of a snake’s now. 

"Why is that such a big problem?"   
It was the first time the boy spoke clearly with her.   
He already sensed that more people picked on that subject around Ivy. But never has anyone talked like that about the small student. 

The female student stopped walking.   
"Liking another one of your own gender is not right. Gross even."

This time Crsym was the one who snapped.   
"It is not! Also who do you think you are?! Telling others what is right and what isn't!"  
He pulled his arm away from the girls grip.  
“So what if Daisy isn’t exactly like girls should be. What’s so wrong about Sears and Clovers relationship? Also Rose has her own charm!”  
He never got into a fight with anyone. He nerve had the urge to shout at someone. One reason for that might be because he was never surrounded by that many people. Of course each person had their own opinion and that is surely alright. But there was no need to hurt others with a personal opinion. At least that was what the red eyed one thought.  
The brunette dashed away from her.

Crsym stormed through the floors not caring that he should actually take his physical change lesson.  
The boy hated people like her. It made him feel worthless when he thought about him liking girls and boys the same way. In Mori people always supported each other. Physical appearance, sexuality and gender did not matter. He was warned about humans like Oridé when he received his letter of acceptance but until now he did not meet someone who was that shameful.   
Also Ivy was a nice and cute person who did not deserve to be called “gross”. He was the first one to accept Crsym and talked to him.   
Thousands of thoughts filled his head.  
But all of them vanished when he suddenly bumped into someone. As if he was pushed back into reality by force. 

"I'm sorry."   
Crsym apologised and faced the person. 

"Watch your steps."   
Brown long hair flashed past him.   
All he could make out by watching the girl were her striking black eyes.  
Also the boy got a warm feeling when they moved against each other. Not a normal warmth of a human body. It was as if his skin burned.  
Rubbing over his eyes with his hands Crsym looked around again. What he saw was not possible.  
The stranger wore the school uniform.   
But magicians were known for their colourful and bright eyes.   
Straightening himself slowly the boy moved on.  
Crsym tried to tell himself that he just imagined things, that the girl just moved to fast and that was why they seemed black. 

The new student returned to his room.  
Luckily he met no teachers on his way.   
As the door opened he saw a huge hill covered by a blanket. 

"Ivy?" 

"Ivy is not here. He is in blanket town and has a serious meeting with the snack council."   
Not being used to hear his roommate´s voice sounding so depressed, the brunette sat next to him and went with the flow.  
"Well, Mr. Kellum has an important appointment with Ivy now." 

"No, he has not. It is cancelled due to an extremely annoying girl."   
Depression became a childish play and the brown haired magician was able to slowly pull the white blanket away.

His classmate kneeled on the bed, hiding a bag of chips underneath himself.

"Is it because of what Oridé said?" 

“That little remark? Nah, it´s nothing. I´m not that weak, you know.”  
The green curls hung over his head sadly as he shook it to reply.   
"It's because of what you might think about me now. I´m used to her treating me this badly since I came here."   
Forcing the words out they sounded more frustrated then he intended to. 

"Well,..."   
First Crsym thought about what he would say before he continued.  
"Nothing new to be honest. The same thing when we first met. An annoying midget."   
The other one flinched at those words, which pierced his heart. 

"But also very cheerful and kinda cute."   
A smile appeared on both of their faces.  
Of course Ivy was not exactly his type but it was clear that it was the other way around and Crsym did not want to break his heart. He sensed Ivy looking at him from the side and blushing around him. Ivy also seemed to get jealous when Rose or Sear started to touch Crsym and flirting with him. So he must have been having either a crush on him or Crsym just read the signs wrongly. 

"You know, the meeting got boring so I'll leave it. You want some?"   
Ivy held out the chips he kept with himself under the blanket.  
Their hands joined in the rustling bag. 

"So what about your lesson today?" 

"I think I'm gonna skip it today. I'm not interested in that kind of magic anyway."   
Crsym ruffled through his hair again.   
“And what about your beautiful guide? Did you just leave her?”  
“Yes. In my village they always say that we shouldn´t get too close to snakes no matter how fascinating they are.”   
Ivy laughed again which was a lot more refreshing than his depressed voice. 

The two boys sat on the bed together and entertained each other while the others had their usual practical classes. 

Hours passed and they only noticed it when someone entered the room.   
Daisy peeked out and stepped inside as soon as Ivy opened the door.   
She was definitely here to see her green haired friend. Or that was what Crsym would expect.   
Instead she grinned at the new student.   
"I heard what happened today bird brain."   
Suddenly the bluenette behaved much friendlier to him and punched his shoulder.  
"Nice! Everyone talked about Atroxs' face when you showed that girl her place." 

"Atrox?"   
Crsym questioned the girl who was normally his bully. 

"Oridé"  
Ivy now sat down on a chair nearby. 

Daisy stepped on the ladder to the top bunk and threw her fist up into the air.  
"Serves her right. Justice wins! She even fell on her knees in defeat." 

Brown eyebrows formed a confused expression.   
Whenever he was with Daisy she was very quiet and if she spoke to him, she put on a mocking tone and made sarcastic comments.   
A whole new side of her was revelled. 

"Really Daisy? You shouldn't be that sadistic. Wasn´t she sick for a long time before that as well. Maybe she still is and that´s why she fell on her knees."   
Ivy had his face cupped with both of his hands.  
That explained why Crsym did not see her before in his lessons.

"Dummy. It's not like I want to be like this but she was always so mean to you and as your friend I can't help but think that way."   
The girl jumped off and placed herself next to Crsym.

The way these two talked to one another, their smiles, this atmosphere it all reminded the new student of something.   
It was the way he and Formeno did things when they were in Mori. The boy though about the one person which he wanted to forget so desperately.

"Hey, are you alright?", Daisy showed him her kind side for once.  
Trying to hide his wet eyes Crsym avoided her gaze.  
Now he actually understood the bluenette’s bad attitude when he was around. Crsym was the same.   
Whenever the few other kids from the village got near his best friend, the boy felt like someone invaded his space or would not have been a good friend to the quiet one.

"Yup. I'm totally fine."

The other two got closer.  
It was clear that they saw right through. Embarrassing comments were expected. Luckily these guys ignored it, seeing the brunette was uncomfortable.

"Well...how was your day apart from the incident with Oridé?"   
Changing the topic the questioned male tried to face at them again.

“Fine I guess.”  
He could feel golden eyes staring at him intensively.   
Then the girl searched for her other friends face. A moment later the two began to grin.  
Not getting any warning Crsym was tackled by Daisy onto the bed and Ivy almost jumped to join them.  
"What are you doing?!"

The teenagers on top of him laughed and touched his upper body.  
"I bet he is ticklish."   
Ivy tried to find the spot under his arms.

"N-no! I am not!"   
Pushing them away the young magician wanted to free himself.  
If he had not covered his ears for a short moment at the beginning then the bluenette might not have realised that it was there.  
Her tanned hands flew there and scratched behind his ears, which made the victim burst out in laughter.  
"Found it!" 

Not wasting any time the fluffy head treated his other ear the same.  
The fun would have lasted if there was not another knock at the door. This time it was loud and impatient.  
"Agapao, Eferus and Kellum! Step out right now! "  
It was Mrs. Dandel.  
First the three students stood up and whispered among themselves in panic. Until Ivy and Daisy decided to push Crsym to the door.   
"The new one always has to sacrifice himself."   
Both said as they showed the boy their thumbs up. 

Opening the door slowly the sacrifice put on a smile.  
"I-is something wrong Mrs. Dandel?" 

"Don't try to fool me! You, young sir skipped your lesson together with our famous troublemaker."   
The woman's arms crossed in front of her chest.

Maybe if Daisy did not laugh at them for that she could have gotten away. But that was not the case.  
"Don't laugh Agapao! Sleeping through the lesson is not better!"   
Their teacher took something which was put against the wall. Three mobs were shoved against the guilty teenagers.  
"Each of you will clean the first floor in the main building tonight."   
Mrs. Dandel left without listening to their complaints even for one minute. Punishment was given so her work was done.

All of them sighed at the same time and sat on the bottom bunk again.   
Ivy checked the clock above the door.  
"Well let's just wait until it´s bedtime."   
His friends nodded in agreement.  
One thing left to do: waiting.

Until then the students had enough time, which they used to get keys from the janitor to enter their dorms again.

By the time they started to work, Crsym took off his cardigan so he would not sweat too much and put it around his hips.   
Ivy suggested to clean the areas of the first floor together to entertain each other while working.  
Ready to work the brunette pulled up his sleeves.

"Hey have you ever heard about the ghost stories going around this school?"   
The smallest of them began to mob the floor.

"Ghost stories?"   
Being unimpressed the new student focused on his work.

"Yup. Some pupil say at night you can always hear someone's cry. It is also said that those cries are from suicidal students who got punished by Mr. Anemo not being able to take it any longer or that they were killed by Mrs. Dandel."   
Daisy sat down on the ground and used her magic to clean.

"Seriously? That already sounds made up."   
Crsym darted his eyes down on the wet ground. At least the last part was. It was too much of a coincidence that they were in that building and got this kind of treatment by their teacher.

"Guys...do you hear that?"   
Ivy started shaking and stopped.

"Could you guys stop making up things?"  
Slightly annoyed Crsym warned both of them.  
Daisy clamped her hand to the speaking boy´s mouth.  
"No, he's right. Listen closely."   
Footsteps.  
The girl pointed at a certain direction, pointing out where they came from.  
Protecting themselves by taking their mobs as a weapon.   
Slowly but surely getting closer to the steps. Not daring to make a single sound.

Several heads peaked out of the corner.  
Three dark shadows stood at the front door whispering to each other.

 

Trying to eavesdrop the students listened closely, when one of them suddenly noticed the wet ground.

"Guys? Did we already clean the floor in this area as well?"  
The bluenette whispered.

Following her gaze the two boys saw it now as well.   
"N-..."   
As Ivy was about to respond, someone else was slightly faster.  
"Nope. But don't you know that it's impolite to just eavesdrop on others." answered a scary voice in the background.  
As they were about to run away the magicians noticed that their feet were somehow frozen to the ground as the water found its way around them.   
All teenagers shrank to the ground.  
"Please don't kill us Mrs.Dandel!"   
Daisy, Ivy and Crsym screamed in synch. 

Two more shadows came out of the dark.  
"Crysm?!"   
One of them said in surprise to see him.

"You know these guys Formeno?"   
A girl's voice rang.

Crysm finally opened his eyes.  
"Formeno?"   
He took a closer look at the girl next to him.  
"You were the one who bumped into me." 

This was the second time and now the boy was sure. Her eyes were certainly black.   
Her long wavy hair hung bound together over her shoulder.   
The one who stood behind them joined her two comrades.  
It was also a girl. Slightly shorter than the other one and curly hair which was tamed in a ponytail the same way as the others one.  
She seemed rather innocent. Nothing like someone would suggest from the way she spoke before.  
This one had black eyes as well.  
Both of them wore their school's uniform.

"O-outcast!"   
Ivy suddenly stumbled. 

"N-not possible...It can't be."   
Daisy stared in shock unable to move an inch and unable to just accept what just happened.  
Matter of fact these persons did have black eyes just like the little children on the photos.

"Wow, Mag seems like we're famous. These folks are definitely our fans."   
The scary voice became cute.   
"But as things are now we can't let them go with just an autograph. What should we do with them?"   
Again scary. 

Crsym ignored the girl. There was only one thing that was on his mind.  
"Formeno...you're with the outcast." 

The black haired magician avoided his old friend's gaze. The lavender orbs filled with some kind of sadness and also with pure guilt.

"We need to get rid of them so we can successfully finish our mission. Iris can you do that?"   
The fire magician turned to her female partner who saluted happily.  
"Sure thing."   
“Mag, Iris....”   
Formeno tried to say something but the decided to be quiet after all.

Shaking and fumbling around the students made an attempt to free themselves but the ice rose higher around their bodies.

"Free us immediately!"   
Daisy was the first one to shout out.  
The boys were too shocked to say anything. All this seemed like a really bad nightmare. Death may awaited them.

"Free you? That's what we're going to do anyway."   
The girl called Iris put her right hand on the bluenette’s mouth. A bubble appeared in front of her mouth.  
"We will free you from this world. Have fun drowning."   
Letting the other students undergo the same process the members of the outcast disappeared into the dark again together with a traitor. This one dared to look back one more time before running after the other two.  
His friends were suffering.  
Traitor. That was also the only word which crossed the red eyed´s mind.  
For 5 years they were apart from each other. When Crsym entered the school he thought that Formeno and he could hang out with each other like back then. They could have been playing and joking with each other again.   
As his former friend told him to stay away the new student was shocked that maybe these 5 years caused an alienation of their friendship. But never once it came to his mind that his best friend would be an enemy of the government.  
Formeno became a traitor.   
Traitor.   
Traitor.   
Traitor.  
It echoed in the brunette’s head.   
And for the first time the crimson red got intense.  
"What the hell is this about?!"   
A loud scream was released the bubbles turned back into normal water. A high pitched sound filled the building. The school’s alarm went off. All doors flew open.  
His friends stared at the boy in awe as they choked out water. Everything seemed to be going wild. 

"How did you do this birdbrain?"   
The blue haired magician caught her breath again and stood up after she was freed from the ice.

"I don't know..."   
Crysm felt like his whole being was heated up. His hands shook and he felt his blood rushing strongly through his veins. Red eyes still directed at the way Formeno took. It seemed like for the first time in his life Crsym was filled with pure hatred. Never before has he yell so much that his throat was throbbing. Never before did he ever want to punch Formeno.

"Okay that was awesome but I think we should seriously run before they catch us again."   
Ivy pulled his friend's arms and ran to the other end of the building.

"I don't think we can get away from them just by running. We should hide somewhere." , Daisy commented as she heard several footsteps which could either belong to the Outcast which must have been overly furious at the three for tickig off the alarm or the school's security.

The greenette looked around the nearby rooms.   
"Good then the infirmary." 

The teenage magicians entered the right door.  
Ivy put a finger on his mouth motioning that they have to be quiet as there was a high possibility that some sick students might be sleeping here. Though they must have been awake by now.  
After the three of them crawled under the nurse's table they listened closely to the steps passing the door even though they knew by now everyone could be awake due to the alarm. But knowing that students were supposed to stay inside the dorms when the alarm rang it was unlikely them running around.

The time passed and it was completely silent.   
Not a single footstep was heard. Just the raged breathing of a certain girl which was now in the focus since there was not any other sounds around anymore.   
The breathing became loud painful moaning.

"Whoever this is we are trying to hide here! So would you mind keeping it a bit down! "  
Daisy’s whispered lecture was heard.  
"H-help me...Please Daisy." 

The group recognized the voice.  
"Oridé ?"   
Shaking the greenette opened the curtains which parted the beds from the rest of the infirmary.  
The poor boy could not know what would happen next. A cold hand desperately grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the pained girl.   
"I told you to help me you piece of shit!"  
Her purple hair hung over her pink eyes wildly.   
A certain dark blue fluid came out of every opening of her face and the spots which could be found on every magician.  
Slimy and sticky. It flowed out as if it was pushed out constantly with force.   
Like a heartbeat it pulsed out of her Defloureos. The Defloureos now resembled swelling zits.   
Her grip was getting stronger on the boys arm. It hurt the green eyed student. He flinched.   
"I'm begging you please!" 

Ivy did not even know what to do with the girl who usually hated him.  
"Oridé try to calm down."   
Finally the purple haired magician let go off him and pulled her long her instead.  
"Noo! Make it stop, please!"  
A loud ear deafening scream.

Daisy covered the girl’s mouth with her tie.  
"We have enough problems without you making the enemies notice us."   
Even when the purple haired one bit down on the telekinesis student´s hand Daisy kept her hands there.

"Daisy take them away."   
Ivy tried to pull his best friend away from the other girl.  
“If I do then-!”  
"Her skin!" 

The soft skin from this morning turned into a grey shade and looked like a cracking stone.  
The black fluid now completely covered her eyes and dripped down on the bed.  
Under Daisy’s hand the other girl started coughing the now clearly visible veins jumped.  
Rapidly taking away her hands the blue haired magician backed off.  
Walking backwards the teenagers tried to get away from their purple haired classmate.  
Just as Crsym reached for the doorknob the screaming girl became silent.  
Laughter. Black fluid was now surrounding Oridé’s body. It was practically eating her up, forming a new outer appearance.   
The once beautiful female student turned into a black dripping slime creature. Her human arm still stuck out of the now giant body. Fingers curled in an unnatural way. And parts of her former skin just dropped out of the monster. It was a disgusting sight nobody would want to witness.

All seemed like a really bad nightmare.   
The monster's frog like legs moved and the figure finally stood tall and jumped off the bed with a big thud.

"You know, after all this I think hiding here may not have been the best option."   
Ivy was the first one to comment.

"How can you be like that when you see that this THING is right here!"   
The brunette unfortunately had not the nerve to cope with his friends’ reaction.

One step closer to the students.

"People always say to see the positive sides of life. That's why I'm trying to be positive." 

Another step.

"Not now guys!"   
Daisy tore the door open as Oridé opened her mouth filled with thousands of sharp teeth.  
The teenagers fled.  
As they distanced themselves from the door a bit the monster crashed against it.

"Run!"   
Giving off the order, the girl started running. The two boys were at her heels.

Just shortly after the teenager ran a few meters ahead they already heard how Oridé crashed through the wall.   
The walls crumbled as the monster hurried after them and soon caught up. 

Feeling the creature's ragged breath through its nose the three students knew that they were soon going to get caught by it.  
Getting closer with every step they slowed down. It was hopeless to run away.   
Ivy already needed to be taken by his hand.  
" Can we slow down a bit?" 

"Oh sure! I don't mind gettin' eaten!"   
Crsym´s hand tightened around Ivy´s.

"Hey boys! Let's split up over there. The ones who aren't followed by it will get some help."   
Daisy pointed at the place where the stairs began.  
"Me and Ivy will take the stairs. You continue your run through the floors."   
“Wait! What?! I´m confused! You mean you will just leave me?!”  
Not being able to comprehend the bluenette’s plan the red eyed student was sure Daisy would just sacrifice him.

"But Daisy-!"   
The boy with the green hair wanted to protest.

"No time! Now!"   
The female magician tore her friend away from Crsym. 

"Daisy we can't leave him alone!"   
The last words he heard from his admirer.

But at that time the teenager with the red eyes could not think of anything but running.  
Daisy's plan did seem to have worked out.   
The beast was after Crsym. It ignored the other magicians who went up the stairs.

It was going well. At least that’s what someone could call well in this kind of situation who was not followed by a monster.  
But like every person Crsym’s stamina did not last forever.  
The boy was getting slower and looking back he saw that the monster did not even have to run to stay behind him.  
He tried to get to his former pace again but it was not possible. It will catch up. His pulse was already going crazy.

Oridé tackled the student against the right wall. It must have been a miracle that Crsym survived this as he felt the speed he was hit with.   
He was aware that his body was bleeding because of the dark red fluid that slowly ran down his shoulders and stains spreading on his white shirt.   
Crsym coughed it out.   
The monster reached out for him with a moan that sounded like the word "gross"

The boy looked down and knew that Daisy and Ivy would not be fast enough to call for help, if Daisy actually ever really intended to do so. At least not before he will meet his end, which was right now.  
Already seeing his life passing by the brunet felt hot which was odd since everyone described death as something cold. To add was that his circulation was not really good at that moment considering the blood loss he had to bear with every second.

"There you are!"   
The one who spoke was someone Crsym knew.  
Jumping up the fire magician swung a sword that was surrounded by flames.  
A clean cut through the mutated Oridés neck.   
Magaritte from the outcast.   
She finished off this giant thing with just one strike. Its body and head fell apart from each other.

So one problem gone and the next one was already standing right in front of him.   
His arm was pulled by the girl.  
Crsym was forced to stand up. The student did not have the strength to fight back.

"If it wasn't for one of us I would killed you as well. Now get moving!"   
She finally said something.

"Move? Where to?"   
The student held on to the Outcast. His whole body hurt. 

" Formeno begged us to take you with us. You should be grateful."   
The boy did not understand. Why would Formeno first tell him to stay away, then run away with the outcast and after that beg these two to help him?

Before Crsym protested an announcement was made.  
"Attention please. Every person, worker and students are called to the gym. Please come here immediately. It is an emergency. The Outcast entered the school. This is no training. I repeat this is no training." 

The boy let go of the girl's sleeve and moved a step back. 

"Go if you want to. But if you change your mind come to the backyard. We are only able to wait for one hour. I´ll leave it to you whether you want to come with us or not. All I want you to know is that Formeno is ready to accept any punishment that will follow from your actions. ".   
She did not do anything. Did not hold him back or force him to come with her.   
She even told him where she met with the other outcast members. 

"Why are you telling me this? How can you trust me not to tell the teachers. ".   
One more step backwards. 

"Oh please, I don't trust you. You're just a big wimp and as you just witnessed I can take you on any time. I just told you because of Formeno. He is one of us and seems to care about you." 

"You can go I won't stab your back. I am a warrior of honor."   
The legendary added and smiled. 

Crsym turned around with a blush.   
He remembered Mrs.Dandel's words on his first day about the outcast.   
Run or fight. But seeing this girl and hearing her talk the red eyed one wanted to do neither of that.   
Slowly he stumbled to the gym. Forgetting the pain and thinking about everything that happened.  
“This has got to be a nightmare.”


	4. The Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Outcat consists of bad people, right? Like Mrs. Dandle said: "Run or Fight." Or maybe just do something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody!  
> Have fun readinh chapter 3.  
> I hope you enjoy it. ;)

"Crsym!"   
Sear was the first one who noticed the new student when he entered.   
The mind reader ran up to him. Followed by the rest of their group.   
"Man what happened to you?"   
He touched Crsym's ripped shirt.

"Nothing. I am fine."   
The answer was absent minded. 

"Geez, even without having my brother's power I can say that this is a lie. Let's get you to the nurses."   
Rose tugged at his shirt now as well. 

Crsym let himself get dragged by his friends and was brought to the nursing corner in the gym.   
Passing by everyone else he noticed that all the other students were scared and some even panicked. So, three persons could scare all these people by just entering a building. They seemed to turn into ants walking around in masses and sticking to each other.  
Examining and treating his wounds the first nurse was shocked.  
"God what happened to you?"   
Her reaction was natural after all the boy was thrown against a wall with an enormous speed. And despite that he felt like this was nothing at all. It could have ended worse if it was not for Magaritte Dante.

Sad gazes of Daisy and Ivy pierced his body and finally the brunette noticed. He could not possibly say that his friends left him alone while running away. Some might say to blame them. But as soon as Crsym’s eyes met Daisy, full of regret and an ashamed expression he was unable to do so. Her face was telling him that it was not her intention to abandon him.  
"I fell down the stairs while running here." 

Still looking very sceptical the nurse continued her treatment. It was good that she did not ask any more questions.  
As soon as she was finished Daisy and Ivy hugged him. Ignoring the pain he still felt and invading his body. 

"I'm so glad you survived. You know we really tried to get help but nobody would listen to us. They all just ignored us even when Daisy shouted at them."   
Ivy could not hold back his tears just like Daisy who did not say a word but buried her face in the hugged ones shoulder. Meaning the bluenette actually really intended to get help and not just sacrifice him. That was clear now as he knew that Ivy would never lie to him.

"Ugh...I am really fine guys." 

Clover, Rose and Sear looked at the three confused.

"Everybody assemble! Principal Anemo wants to tell you something!"   
As strict as ever their lovely teacher Mrs.Dandel called out loudly. 

The male friends grabbed Crsym underneath his arms and helped him getting near the others.  
There he stood. Mr. Anemo.   
"My dear students , colleagues and workers. Right now is a critical situation. It is dangerous to just walk around now. But I swear it is nothing we cannot cope with. Until we get everything under control we forbid you to leave the gym. This is for your safety. Trust me. Get the most important things from your room and come back here. Go in groups and look out for each other. Please take care of yourselves. The teachers and security guards will be watching you as well."   
The man bowed down with his mouth going up on both sides.   
After this the principal disappeared into another room.  
The students spread apart and hurried back to their rooms one last time. Nobody knew for how long they could not return.

Crsym and his friends were about to do the same.   
"Let's go to the backyard."   
The brunette did not know why he wanted to go there. But he could not forget the outcast member who told him about it.

"Dude, I don't wanna ruin your plans or something but did you not listen just now. Critical situation, danger, most important things."   
Sear pinched his red eyed buddy. 

"I did hear him but..."   
The new magicians did not find any reason. But he could also not just tell him that he wanted to meet the outcast there. Crsym wanted to know more about them. Why would they save him? The Outcast was described as merciless and inhuman in every aspect. But the rebel he met was nothing like that. She let him choose and did not hunt him down as Mrs. Dandel tended to say.

"Well, you heard the pipsqueak. He wants to go to the backyard one last time so let's go there."   
Daisy commented while redoing her pigtails.

"No objections from me. I still owe you one after all."   
Ivy cheerfully put his hands in his pockets. His cheeks took the colour of a rosy red.  
"Really? You will only cause trouble again Ivy."   
Clover held onto Sears arm. 

Rose grinned as she bit o her bottom lip.   
"Sounds good for me. Causing trouble one last time before we get locked up in the gym. We will just have to be careful so that nobody sees u going there." 

Sear sighed.   
"If you weren't my sister I would surely be in less problems. Fine let's go there." 

Crsym´s mood brightened with everyone's approval.   
"Okay let's go then. I want to discover something with you guys."   
Gaining his friends weirded out faces the new student walked ahead. T  
The others directly behind him. 

Everything was about to change.   
Crsym wanted to know why the outcast was against their system. Why they were who they were. He had many questions. Maybe he would be able to understand Formeno if he knew more about them. The new student hoped to reconcile with his former friend again. Maybe he could even convince him to go back to their side again.  
But if everything this school said about them was true and they are just pretending to be nice then he would at least try to knock some sense into Formeno.

After a while they were almost there.   
"What exactly do you want to show us anyway?"   
Sear caught up to Crsym.  
No reply. 

Turing to the last corner of the backyard they arrived at their destination.  
"There they are."   
Three other persons were standing there. Daisy and Ivy also knew them. Formeno and the two legendary magicians whispering to each other while keeping an eye to their surroundings. It should not have been surprising when the group of students was discovered effortless.

"What? Did you plan an orgy with us or something? You could have told me sooner. "  
The male red head jokingly jumped to the most perverted conclusion and started unbuttoning his shirt as he saw the three of them. That guy must not have realized who they were yet.   
He would have successfully finished that if he had not received a foot in his face.  
The water magician held down the first one who approached them.   
"Formeno did you not say just this Crsym guy?"   
“I did but I was sure he would come alone. Normally he does not drag others with him.”  
The black haired boy mumbled with his ever neutral tone. 

"Just this Crsym guy? What are they talking about fish face?"   
Daisy turned to the student who led them there. She seemed to be the only one who was not completely shocked. Rather she was so calm as if it had been an everyday occasion.

"Who are they?!"   
Rose would have tackled the girl who attacked her brother if she was not held back by Daisy.

"This...This is the outcast. Crsym, why did you bring us here?!"   
Ivy fell on the ground stunned by where his friend brought them. 

Questions and blames were thrown at the boy.  
"Calm down everyone. I know this looks like it´s a suicidal move but they saved me."   
His red eyes fixed on the fire magician. The only one that was silently watching the others freak out.   
"I thought you would not have a problem with more than just one wimp. I want to know who you are exactly."  
At the last part the red eyed magician got nervous. 

"Dude! Worst flirt I have ever heard! Also not with the enemy! ", Sear commented still being threatened by the water magician with the curly hair.

"I-it was no flirt! Also how can we know they are our enemies when everything we've ever been told about them was that we should run or fight? Don't you want to know who the Outcast really is?"  
Crsym searched for the still scared Ivy on the ground.  
"This girl saved me Ivy. I don't think we can't trust them. Or at least trust me." 

The greenette slowly stood up still wearing a worried expression. He pulled the sleeves of his purple hoodie and covered his hands. That was something he did when he was troubled.  
“I do trust you but...”  
Green eyes were focusing on the water magician who almost cut their breath the first time they met them. 

"Are you kidding?! They are rebels! Of course they are enemies!"   
Clover balled a fist.  
“They must be pretending! I won´t trust them! Inhuman monsters! ”  
The green haired girl seemed to be in rage over Crsym´s suggestion.

Finally the female magician opposite of Crsym opened her mouth. She ignored Clover´s insult.  
"Now that this wimp brought you here you don't have much of a choice anyway, do you? Either you come with us or you die." 

" Mag are you serious? All of them? Arron will be so mad at us."   
The water magician let go of Sear leaving him on the ground. Now she leaned on her partner´s shoulder instead, which she just reached with her elbow.  
Rose and Clover surrounded him without waiting even a second.   
Crsym on the other hand was concerned about the name that just fell. Arron. It had to be this Arron Cliff who was once a soldier.

"Don't worry nothing we can't handle Iris."   
The one spoken to met her partner with self confidence.

Daisy who did not say a word since Crsym's talk just walked over to the outcast side.   
"If that's our two choices I will pick the one where I'm alive longer. Also it would be nice to know more about them. First-hand knowledge is better than just hearing it from other people. I’m with the fool on this one. I want to know more." 

Sear steadied himself angrily.  
"I don't think we can't trust them."   
He quoted Crsym mockingly.  
"Yeah sure! More like we are forced to! We can´t trust them my ass!"   
He took his sister and the green haired girl by their hands and dragged them with him.

"Stay positive."   
Ivy mumbled it five times and joined his friends.   
"Better than dying I guess."   
Nervous giggling was forced out of the roommate.

Formeno stroke back his long strands behind his ears.   
"Thank you Mag."   
Crsym could tell that the raven head was relieved. 

The girl with the curly hair gave up.  
"Fine. But don't blame me when that guy is angry again. I don’t think I can take any more of this ‘You don’t know what responsibility is.’ or ‘What did I tell you about recruiting people from the other side?’ “

The black haired boy bent down to the ground and placed a hand on it. Small red lights wandered each centimetre of the ground underneath.   
One more time small red sparks left the magician`s hands, lightening up the veins in his arm. Part of the ground started to dematerialize and stairs leading down appeared.

Bowing down the water magician cupped her hand in front of her mouth.  
"Please stay in line while walking. Also try to not sink in the mud. So watch your step it can get really deep in some places. Like seriously deep." 

Magaritte was the first one to enter.  
As it seemed Iris and Formeno waited until the students entered. Most likely to keep an eye on them.   
Crsym took the first step since none of them began to walk.   
His childhood friend was the last one. He materialised the ground again to make it look like nothing was ever there. 

"So there was a tunnel underneath the school the whole time."   
Rose' lavender eyes skimmed the beige stone walls. She still sounded very annoyed.

"Only recently. We constructed that one for our mission which was unfortunately cancelled as three brats came in our way. Welp, I guess things like that happen twice, right Formeno? ".  
Iris seemed rather relaxed even though Crsym and his friends destroyed their plans.  
The school´s traitor just nodded.

"You know, you call us 'brats' but you guys don't really look like you are that much older than us."  
The greenette put his hands behind his head while thinking about it.  
No answer received.

The atmosphere was too tense to start a normal conversation. Despite that Ivy still did not give up.   
"A-also you know what is funny? On Crsym's first day I said; 'it's not like we will get scouted by the outcast' a-and here we are ehm...kinda scouted by the outcast."   
Again nervous giggle. Yes,   
trying to start a friendly conversation was impossible.

"Can that guy ever shut up?!"   
Mag had finally enough of the small boy. It would have gotten worse if this one did not suddenly sink in the mud in the moment of thee fire magicians outburst.  
"Much better.".

"Ivy!"   
Crsym and Daisy tried to get their friend out.  
Ivy held onto the two and spit out brown mud that had entered his mouth. His whole body was covered in it. 

"Told you to watch your steps."   
The water magician laughed as she passed them.  
"Now keep up we're almost on the surface again." 

It was true there was literally light at the end of the tunnel.   
A firm brown hand was stretched out to them.   
"Welcome back girls."   
Kind. The woman almost sounded like an angel. She helped everyone to get out.  
"Oh we have guests. That's surprising."   
Finally they could get a better look at their helper.   
A woman with brown skin and dark brown hair, which was braided into many small hair parts.   
She wore a blue denim jacket and under that a white top.   
Khaki balloon pants and sandals underneath.  
That woman was a normal human which could be seen by a look into her hazelnut coloured eyes.

"Lina, can you get us different clothes while we bring them to Arron. I don’t understand how these students can walk around looking like this."  
The taller legendary magician complained while loosen up her tie.  
Crsym could not argue about that. When he received the uniform he was also shocked at first. The purple and gold colour was really striking. It must have been Mr. Anemo’s who designed those as his fashion style also consisted of these two colours.

“I don’t like it either it´s more like a uniform for a noble clown school than a magic academy.”   
Iris agreed and just threw away the cardigan. 

“Hey don’t just throw it away! It has to be an honour for you to be wearing these considering you´re just filthy rebels! ”.  
The new student never knew Rose had so much hatred for the Outcast. That or she knew that it was her spare uniform that Formeno borrowed but never gave back. Either way out of all she had the most striking reaction.

“Geez it would have been nice if you had mud in your mouth as well”   
Iris just grinned like a villain and went ahead with her partner and Formeno.

“What the-?!”  
This certainly worsened Rose` mood. 

“Now, now calm down. Iris likes to joke with people. Don´t take her so seriously.”  
Lina picked up the cardigan and dusted it off.   
“I´ll clean it for you later, okay? Just follow them for now.”

“Whatever.”   
The female redhead crossed her arms still with a sour expression. 

"I hope we can see each other again."   
Giving them a heart warming look one more time the black woman walked into another direction.

“Do you want to stand there all day? Move! ”  
Mag shouted as the three of them were already far ahead of the five students.

Crsym felt like an obedient child next to her. All he could do was to stare and follow the legendary magicians.  
As they kept walking the students were taken by the surroundings to wonder where they were taken to.  
A system underneath the surface. They wondered how long it took them to build it or rather how these rebels did it in the first place.  
The Outcast were not just three rebellious people. It was a whole society.   
Other people young and old passed by them smiling at the newcomers.  
Children, teenagers, adults and elders from every gender and every skin colour walking side by side.

 

Suddenly the red eyed magician felt someone brushing against his shoulder. A light touch, just like a feather  
"When you meet Arron try to act as normal as you can."   
Formeno who remained wordless until now gave his best friend an advice when they stood in front of an old wooden door.  
Crsym however showed him the cold shoulder and only declared Formeno worthy of a small nod. He could not be friendlier with him. Not until he knew what kind of people the Outcast really was. After that he wanted to have a talk with Formeno. 

Iris knocked at the door happily.  
"Arron! Your beloved warriors are back and brought you a present."

No answer from the other side. 

A hand was put on the brown haired boy's shoulder and pushed him back.   
Mag came up to the front and kicked open the door.   
"Arron we're back."  
She said calmly as if she entered normally.

"What the Fu-?!"   
The man in the military uniform jumped up.  
He seemed to have fallen asleep on the desk he was working on.   
At the time he looked at all the children, that were brought in he changed his words. Of course everyone knew how he was going to finish it.  
"What the...furious mother of all cakes?"  
His dark brown eyes fixed on the girl that forced her way in.  
"Magaritte! What did I tell you about knocking first?!" 

Her shoulders shrugged.  
"We did and you didn’t answer. So whatever." 

Iris stood behind her companion.   
"As you can see we decided to have some guests!"   
She pointed at the sweating teenagers.  
“Guests who are all still awkward teenagers! ” 

“You can´t be considered an adult yet Iris so don’t talk like that.”  
The man massaged his forehead. 

"Isn't that the soldier who betrayed the world government?"   
Sear whispered to his sister.

“Must be”  
Rose gripped the hem of her skirt. She was visibly feeling intimidated by the man. 

The man called Arron fixed his black spiky hair and stared at the students in front of him.   
A deep breath was taken.  
"Again girls. What did I tell you about recruiting people from the other side? They won't be of any help. These people only rely on magic we don't need that." 

“See I knew he would say that.”  
The water magician looked at Mag as her prediction from before came out to be true.

Formeno stepped up.   
"Arron I wanted to-" 

"S-sir A-Arron!"   
Crsym took one step more to the front than his old friend gaining their leaders attention. The boy regretted his action the minute everybody stared at him.  
He felt a burden on his shoulder under Arron’s gaze and his voice cracked. The boy cursed himself for that thinking that he was already over that part of puberty.   
"My name is Crsym and the inhabitants in my village said that I am great at looking after children!"   
One of the man's eyebrows perked up.  
Crsym's voice died at that.  
"S-so I am of help?"   
'God kill me! Why did I say that?! Looking after children is not useful! Also it was only Jade!'   
He cursed himself even more now in his thoughts.  
Fidgeting the boy dared to look at the leader one more time.  
"And that makes you worthy to be one of us?"   
The ex soldier closed the gap between him and the anxious teenager.   
"You can do that one thing without magic and think that is enough? Answer me."   
The scar that crossed the man's left eye made him look even more dangerous.

"No, but it's a beginning."   
Gathering the little pieces that were left of his courage, Crsym returned the glare that was directed at him even though his glare appeared like a rabbit´s comparing it to Arron’s Wolf gaze.  
A long silence entered the room and left the second the leader spoke up again.  
"How many Defloureo do you have? Only one?"   
The rough hand went up to the teenager's cheek.  
A small scared nod.  
"Good, you can try, but be prepared to die anytime. What about the others?" 

Try. That meant they took him in. Suddenly the magician remembered what his actual goal was. Not joining these rebels but just gaining knowledge about them. Now he did not have the guts to talk again.   
“Ehm...excuse me about joining you...”

“You shut up for now. Can´t you see that I am talking to your friends.”  
Arron just brushed off the magician’s words. 

As the others were spoken to everyone stiffened. Which meant Crsym was not the only one feeling weak in front of this man.  
"Seven. Mostly around my neck."   
The small boy pushed his hands in his pockets. His eyes fixed to the ground. If Crsym was a rabbit, then Ivy was a mouse. The cheerful troublemaker turned into a shy kid in a second

Daisy was more confident than her friend.  
"Eleven. 6 on my left cheek and 5 on my right hand" 

Clover searched for the handsome guy´s hand.  
"Fifteen. All on my left arm."

The siblings looked at each other though Rose just averted her eyes and did not reply to the question. It was her brother who answered for both of them.   
"I have eighteen. From my right shoulder to my back. My sister has nineteen. Only one on her bottom lip and the rest on her back as well." 

Arron returned to his desk and wrote something on a piece of paper.  
"Three of them are on the edge. Iris, give that Lina when you see her." 

"Understood sir!"  
Just like the first time the girl saluted happily to the order.

"Mag, you go and tell Adam about our newcomers." 

"Absolutely not. I told you that after this mission I want to have some free time to finish reading my books. Formeno you do that and I go back to my room."   
This one did not seem to have a problem to just dismiss orders.   
She seemed to be more the type of person who orders others around.   
Formeno on the other side did not object and was already on his way.

As the three older members left, a certain atmosphere was created.   
Awkward.  
Arron positioned himself in his seat.   
Legs crossed and arms folded in front of his chest.  
His hand rubbed the beardy that was around his chin.

One more try to get the man to listen to them. His friends must have been confused enough that Crsym brought them into this kind of situation despite saying that he just wants to gain knowledge about them.  
"S-sir what I actually wanted is to-" 

"You wanted to know more about us and not join us. I know. You don't seem like the type to doubt the system anyway."   
A grin spread in the leaders face.   
"But once you know you would want to join us anyway. Thinking about it was the same with Formeno. I actually never thought he would be so good but he is rather strong considering he looks very fragile." 

"And how do you want to know that we are as naive as this traitor mister Betrayed-the-world-government?"  
Rose finally had enough.  
"These girls already forced us to come here! Is it going to be like that again?! Let me guess after your little presentation it will be: join or die!"   
The redhead pointed at the red eyed magician.  
"This is your entire fault Crsym! What were you thinking?! Oh let's bring death upon my friends?!" 

"Rose I just-"   
Suddenly the materialisation student seemed much superior and powerful than the new student could remember.  
Not being able to handle the situation when the others looked at him the same way Rose did, Crsym was transformed into a tape of stuttering.

"Let's hear him out first. I bet Crsym didn't want to do anything bad."   
Ivy covered for his friend who was unable to talk right now. 

"Stop protecting him just because you have a crush on him! You know well that it is his fault Ivy!"   
Clover was now directing her anger at the greenette now as well.   
The new victim's face heated up. Up to the ears the small boy was red.  
"I don't want to hear that from someone who's envious of her crush’s sister to the point that she terrorizes her! And now you are suddenly siding with her?!"  
"What?! Rose is that true?!"   
Sear jumped back into the quarrel.  
"Stupid Redhead! How could you not notice?! Kakos brother."  
Daisy was now cursing in a language nobody understood. But nonetheless it was still very provoking.  
The whole group lost it at last. Each one was fighting with another.  
All Crsym could was watch them shouting and accusing each other.  
A double click echoed in the room all of sudden. The noise put the students into a paralysed state.  
"Why are teenagers always like this? Even my daughters."   
A gun was pointed at them by no one else than Arron Cliff.   
"Look, as you can see I'm not the youngest anymore. So if you don't mind could you keep your mouths shut and let me explain everything."   
With his other hand Arron massaged his forehead again.  
“I have headache because of you.”  
The man muttered.   
Silence. As if no one was alive in that room.  
"Great. Finally an atmosphere I like."   
The former soldier smiled proudly.   
"Everything okay now?"   
The students nodded obediently. Now that leader could control them like puppets.  
"Okay who barely knows something about monsters?"   
Three hands were in the air. It was Daisy's, Crsym's and Ivy's.  
"Did you see it from the beginning? The short mutation process?"   
Again only a voiceless nod.   
"Wait. What are you talking about?"   
Rose still seemed to be in a bad mood.  
"If I got it right from the voices and pictures of their thoughts, the monster in the school was Oridé."   
Her brother answered being the one of the group who could talk to her in a situation like this. The others did not have the courage to talk to an enraged Rose. They did not even care that Sear read their minds without approval again, which usually really bothered the rest of the friends.  
"Oridé?! Like the bossy ace student Oridé?"   
Encountering one shock after another the female redhead pushed back the hair that covered her forehead. Cooling her head she stayed quiet.   
"That must have been the reason for her to become a monster."   
Arron put away his gun.   
"It's time you learn what is happening underneath your skin."  
A pause. The man must have been trying to find the right words.  
"Let's start with something easy. Everything you learned at school was a lie."   
Ivy jumped up at this.  
"I knew it. Math doesn't work with letters. That never made sense to me! I mean what the heck is this ‘e’ in math for?! And why do we need it?!"  
Math was without a doubt Ivy´s natural enemy.   
The midget pointed at Arron with such a bright smile that even the sun would have lost to that shine. The mouse became a cute monkey again. Arron must have unintentionally pushed a switch in Ivy.  
Just being done with children the man let out a stressed sigh.  
"Okay let me correct myself. Everything you leaned at Anemo Academy about magic and us was a lie."   
Disappointed the greenette calmed down again.  
"Magic is not as good as you might think. It's the exact opposite. Those Defloureos are just a response to the foreign cells that are slowly taking over your body. Magic is a disease- an incurable I might add."   
Sear touched his shoulder as he looked at Arron with glowing green-purple eyes.   
"Right now mister young-and-handsome you're making it worse. I wouldn't do it considering how many of them you already have."   
The tall teenager stopped. The purple ring got thinner.  
"He's not lying."   
"Wait! That can't be! The government wouldn't let this happen to young people. They need magic! They always say it in the radio. ‘Magic is the key to reconnect the world again.’", Clover searched for someone else with the same reaction as she quoted the world government´s president.  
It was true that it was often heard in the radio as Crsym recalled. The government even send gifts to the student´s home villages as a sign of gratitude for contributing in bringing the earth to its former state. But it did not go unnoticed that nothing ever changed.  
"I've never seen an adult magician in my life."   
Daisy commented out of nowhere.  
"Did you?"   
She looked at her friends who all seemed to be struggling with the situation.  
The leader smiled.  
"This girl seems to get it. Good. The government doesn't want magic. They want the outcome of it. Reason so far unknown .”  
“That must be more than enough information for today."  
He added.  
It was true. The students had problems coping with all that in such a short time.   
"You can choose. Stay or go back to your doom. We will not force you to do anything."   
Arron walked over to Crsym.   
A small grin found its way to the middle aged man's face.  
"I'm..."   
Hesitation.  
Crsym remembered how the black fluid came out of Oridé. Mouth, eyes, ears, nose and the Defloureos.  
A rough hand ruffled through his brown messy hair.   
"I'll give you time until tomorrow. You can sleep here for today."   
"You must be a very trusting person. Isn't it irresponsible to just let us stay even though we are actually against you rebels?"   
The man in front of him just continued smiling.  
The way the traitor spoke and referred to them reminded Crsym of someone. He just couldn't fit a picture to that someone now. It was definitely someone close to him.  
"I am not. You doing something against us would only end up as a bad end for you."  
"But if we tell the school where you guys are hiding."   
"Then that would only let the war begin that was bound to happen .It was planned to take down the school eventually anyway. So it´s not that I trust you more like you won´t be able to harm us not matter what."  
Arron dismissed them.  
"You can leave now. Look around if you want to."  
"Okay then time to go on an exhibition."   
The bluenet seemed rather happy with the conversation. She casually took her best friend's hand and dashed out of the room.   
The other three of Crsym's friends left more quietly.  
"What are you waiting for? Go look after the children. You're good at it, right?"   
The former soldier focused on the plans on the broken desk again.  
"R-right! I'm on my way then."   
The boy left after that.   
As Crsym was outside again the others already left. Expect for Ivy who waited, leaned against a wall and looking quite concerned.  
"Shall we look around together?"   
A light shade of pink crossed the greenette's face.  
"Sure."   
As the taller one searched for a certain girl he noticed her not standing beside her best friend like she did usually.  
"Daisy said she wanted to walk around herself after I said I wanted to wait for you."   
Ivy understood who his crush was trying to find.  
"Oh..."   
Daisy must have been the only one who spoke with Arron Cliff without feeling inferior.  
Walking through the wide tunnels Ivy turned to walk backwards and faced Crsym.  
"Are you going to join?"  
"I don't know. Actually that wasn't the plan but..."  
"But you're worried and started thinking about it.", the possession student finished.  
It was right. Matter of fact, that was not even their teachers were not magicians. Not once was there an adult who could use magic. Also the school existed for more than 35 years now and nothing changed. The world did not reconnect one bit. Or did the government just not tell them because of other reasons?  
"What should I do? I'm confused."   
"Well, just for you to know, I'll be by your side whatever you choose. Like this you can be sure that if you made a wrong choice then I would have done the same mistake."   
Ivy tiptoed and patted Crsym's head.  
“Cheer a bit up okay? Being depressed is not going help you.”  
Gaining a smile, both boys were relieved for a bit. That of course did not last long.  
Like a bomb a scream exploded in the tunnel system.  
"That sounded like Daisy. I never heard her scream like that."   
Doubt rose within the boys.  
"Let's look for her."  
The small boy hurried to his best friend and for once not caring whether his roommate was behind him or not.  
And even though he was not aware of it Crsym seemed to be more worried about daisy than he thought himself. Considering that the two of them never really got along it was very surprising.  
But everything he could hope now was that she was okay.


	5. Adam, Lina and Memories- to join or not to join? - This is not the question

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crsym and his friends have to choose. Do they want to stay or not? ONe night to overthink everything but is that even necessary?  
> Find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again thank you for reading this story so far.   
> I hope you enjoy it. If you want to share your opinions, suggestions or comments with me just do so. I would like to talk to you guys.  
> Also if you have any questions or want to clear some misunderstandings just message me.  
> To add if you want to see the drawn version of some characters or have some ideas for a comic strip just tell me I would appreciate it :)

The scene that was right in front of the two boys was...not as horrible as expected.  
Daisy stood there. Face flushed and a smile which was lightening up the whole room. It was some kind of storage filled with weapons and armours lying around. Some well ordered, others just thrown in a corner.  
"You're serious?!"   
The girl fangirled around the man she met.   
Her two friends watched speechless. The first time the bluenet acted like that and it was almost as if they were in another world.  
“Was she ever like that before?”  
Crsym asked the small teenager next to him as both were standing at the entrance of the room, paralyzed from what was happening.   
“No. Never. Not in the years we have been friends.”  
The green-yellow eyed magician could not believe it either.  
"What's happening here?"  
Ivy asked while scratching his head, finally moving from the spot he froze at.  
The man turned around. A bulky dark skinned man was the reason for Daisy´s squealing. He was bald and had green non-magical eyes.  
But the main part of his outer appearance was his outfit.  
Denim pants that were barely covering his knees and a sky blue apron with "kawaii weapon." stitched on it. The logo on the apron was a sword with sparkling eyes and pink dots as cheeks. Underneath the apron his upper body was shirtless, so his muscles were visible.  
A kind and helpless smile appeared on the man's face.  
"Oh, nothing serious. This girl and I talked about weapons and then I just said that I could make a spear for her."   
The man reached out his big hand towards the two scared boys. His height and muscles made them feel smaller than when they met Arron a moment ago.  
"I am Adam by the way. Adam Smith. The blacksmith.” Adam laughed mentioning that his last name matched his job.  
“Sorry it's a bit messy I couldn´t clean up here yet."   
The possessing-magic student took his hand first.  
"I am Ivy and that one next to me is Crsym."   
He raised his hand as his name was mentioned.  
"H-hey."  
"Well, off to work then. Spears don't make themselves.”  
“That would be scary."   
The bulky man added as he turned around again. Daisy was already closely behind him but that action was stopped as her male friends pulled her back again.  
"A spear? Why do you want a weapon Daisy? "  
Crsym shook slightly as his hand was around the girl's slim wrist. He could already imagine what she was going to say.  
Looking at him with a serious and confident expression she opened her mouth and formed words.  
"A rebel needs a weapon to fight, right? So of course I would want one."   
"How..."   
The red eyed teenager needed one moment to actually get what Daisy was saying.  
"How can you already decide? Isn't that a bit too fast? A girl shouldn´t do something this dangerous."  
With a painful push the boy was pressed against the wall. Their small friend tried to keep them away from each other but without success.   
"Daisy what are you-?"   
"So what? You're saying my decision is too hurried? Does it make them bad?"   
Golden orbs gave off the feeling as if a beast was standing there.  
“Also what gives you the right to tell me what is dangerous and what isn´t? I can tell that myself. I´m not blind you idiot.”  
This girl was pissed off easily. Daisy certainly was bad tampered.   
"I bet Crsym didn't mean that."   
Even though the brunette just wanted her to consider it was not meant as something bad.  
"Ivy he can talk for himself! Clover is right. Stop protecting him because you like him. Not even as a friend he should need your protection."   
Daisy shushed her best friend.  
She pressed the other boy more against the wall and took his collar.  
"We need a decision! The school already seemed strange for a while now. Remember the story about missing student maybe there is more to it than we think. Also did you never realise that we never know when a student graduated?"   
"How can you deal with this situation so fast? All this information in one day..."   
The grip loosened.  
"It's easy...in my hometown people tend to say: 'do what the powers above your being tell you.' "   
Being distanced now the bluenette let go of Crsym.  
"So I decided to only listen to what my heart and head tells me and ignore the powers above my being. My heart and head both tell me that this is right. Of course you can make your own choice .It´s up to you."   
She walked away without turning back. The storm came and quietly passed by him as it seemed.  
The new student rested against the wall.

"Hey are you alright?"   
Ivy held him by his shoulders gently.  
"Yes, I am."   
"Shall we go after her?"  
Crsym shook his head. He was already confused enough now. Sliding down to sit on the ground the taller male curled up.  
"What did I do? I don't even know why I trusted them in the first place. It was just that this Mag helped me and..."   
He groaned and pulled his hair.   
Ivy placed himself next to Crsym but did not say anything. His friend just took his hands and got them away from the brown hair.  
"Ivy, be frank. Are you really alright with me bringing you guys here?"   
"But how can I be Frank if I'm Ivy, Crsym?"   
The green-yellow eyed one joked.   
However that was only making the boy next to him angry and sighing in despair.  
"Fine. Of course it's not like I don't mind at all but I feel like I can trust you with everything. It may sound stupid but I guess you could call it unconditional trust."   
Ivy took Crsym's hand in his own. A pink shade was visible on his cheeks.  
"The others might be angry about it but they are free to leave if they want to now. So don't be like that."   
The boy could already feel his neighbour's gaze. Crsym knew that Ivy was expecting something now.  
Was it because he said that his roommate is cute? Even so he did not like his friend in that kind of way or it was more like he was not yet ready to be in that kind relationship with him. But Ivy was also the first person that talked to him and did not think badly of him for his curiosity for the Outcast. So he could not possibly just push him away and break his heart. Also the boy was cute and if it actually worked out between these two that would also be nice for Crsym. But was it alright to think about that in this situation?  
Chaos took over his head. The teenager was confused as he fought with himself in his mind.  
The boy felt a certain weight leaning against himself. Their lips were inches apart and as Crsym closed his eyes to accept a kiss as the boy was taken by the atmosphere. It happened.  
Lina passed by.  
"Oh there you are."   
The greenette flinched and dropped his head on the boy's shoulder next to him.  
The young woman smiled and did not seem to notice what was about to happen a moment ago.   
"I just found the siblings and Clover and invited them to eat something. You two must be hungry as well."   
She was truly clueless. What kind of woman was she?   
"Also did you see the blue haired girl?"  
Lina moved more towards the boys.   
"Daisy is with Adam. I'll go and tell her. "   
The red eyed boy saw the chance and he took it.   
Crsym stood up without a second thought. Leaving his friend pouting in the background he felt bad but he needed to sort out his thoughts and feelings first or maybe deal with the whole Outcast thing first. Crsym had to set his priorities straight.

Entering the blacksmithing room a heat wave met the young magician.   
Deeper in the red room Adam stood there with the blue haired girl near the oven.   
Together they held a hammer and hit the weapon that was being made.  
Daisy already took off her cardigan and her shirt was soaking in sweat.  
"Daisy? Adam?"   
Trying not to disturb the two too much Crsym gained their attention by just calling out their names calmly.  
Even though he was not very loud the other two turned their heads. Waiting for him to say something the man and the girl stared intensively at the boy which caused him to stutter again. To add was that he did not know if Daisy was still angry. But he expected her to be.  
"Food is ready. You wanna take a bite as w-well?"   
"Oh please, can't you see that we are very bu-"   
"Yay! Food! I'm coming."   
Adam threw the hammer away casually and took off the dirty gloves. The loud crash did not seem to bother the man while the two teenagers winced.  
"We'll continue later Daisy."   
Walking towards the door Daisy shot an angry glare at the brunette. So he was right she was still angry. Just when it seemed like she liked Crsym a little bit more after the thing with Oridé he just had to ruin it.   
Before it was too late the male magician followed them.   
The bluenette seemed to know how to walk angry as well. Just seeing her from behind Crsym hesitated walking to close to them.  
Adam led them with a giant happy grin.   
This man is actually just a big teddy bear, the boy thought.  
"So do you like it here Crsym?"   
The blacksmith focused on the way while talking.  
Not being able to move his mouth the student did not know how to respond.  
"So you don't? I can show you some places that might change your opinion. There are some breathtaking spots underneath the earth as well. Oh! Or just the places we always play at."  
Adam seemed to enjoy talking to them and looking forward to show them around.   
"Really? All I've seen ´til now were dirty tunnels or just cave-like rooms."   
Daisy let her hand slide along the walls. Being polite definitely was not one of her strengths. Nonetheless it did not seem to bother the rebel. He chuckled.  
"There is always something beautiful. Even in the places that are dirty or destroyed. Beauty hides behind everything. You just need to look at it probably."   
Adam turned around the corner and went down another tunnel. This one was a lot smaller than the others but still big enough for people to force themselves through it. It was a miracle that the man did not get stuck in it as he had broad shoulders.  
The bald man disappeared in the dark tunnel.  
Crsym’s eyes searched for Daisy´s.  
"Wimp."   
She must have known that he wanted her to go first. Slowly going down the tunnel the girl faded into the darkness.  
"Now come down here fish face. Only a small spiders, so nothing dangerous is down here."   
"Spiders?!"   
Adam's scream echoed through the stone walls. A loud noise followed. Someone fell down. It was all quiet for a moment.  
"Now just come down fool. It seems like nothing happened."  
The girl not caring about the man whom she admired a minute ago just moved further down.  
Crsym climbed down the tunnel carefully.  
"What happened to Adam?"   
The boy asked nervously.   
"He just fell down. Happens all the time. Don´t worry he is used to that."   
Lina called out loud enough for the two teenagers to hear it.  
"Just come down here."  
After a certain time they finally made it down the tunnel. At the end they had to jump down as the exit was placed right above some kind of iron table. This was the part Adam fell down when spiders were being spotted.  
The big man already sat on a chair and got his back massaged by one of the other members.  
The pretty woman helped the two teenagers again and showed them the table the other students sat at.   
Even from afar it was more than obvious that they were fighting with each other again. It was strange. This morning everyone still got along with each other so well and now it was like the teenagers were enemies.  
The other two sat down on wooden stools at each end of an iron table.  
"Yo, what's up?"   
Everyone was different expect for Daisy. She talked casually to them again despite shouting at them when they were in Arron's room.  
Sear groaned. The redhead was fed up with her.  
"Nothing. Just chilling at those criminal rebels´ place."  
"We're not criminals."   
Adam forced himself between the students to sit with them. Finally the adult was fine again.   
Just like Crsym and Ivy the third male tensed up next to the blacksmith. His muscular body was just too intimidating. Anyone would turn into a helpless child next to the man.  
But as soon as Adam looked troubled Sear must have known that there was nothing to fear.  
"Ehm...is something on my face? Do you not want me to sit here?"   
A nervous smile crossed the man's visage.   
"I just wanted to get to know you."  
"Whatever. Do what you want."   
The boy mumbled into his hand with which he held up his head on the table.  
A group of children approached them and put their food in front of them.  
The small female child who gave Crsym his plate stared at him. Semi long brown hair and blue eyes. She had a gap between her teeth and freckles covered her face. Somehow the girl reminded the magician of his sister.  
Suddenly the child pushed her tongue against the gap and grinned.  
“Red eyes make you look scary. Are you a villain like ´n one of those picture books?”  
“Villain? No, of course not.”, he remembered finding one of those black white picture books as well. Sometimes they had coloured pictures as well and red eyes seemed to be popular for villains. Some children in his village used to tease him about it as well. Formeno used to be the only one who said that Crsym´s red eyes are not scary. This little girl reminded him of that time.   
"Milenne, that's not how you should treat guests. Apologize to him."   
Just laughing the lecture off Milenne ran off with the other children.  
“Bye bye Reddy.”

"Sorry, they're not used to new people yet."  
The man apologized for the girl instead.  
“It´s alright .I´ve been told that they are scary before so it´s nothing new.”  
That it was alright was a lie. He felt self-conscious because of them ever since he was small and it never got better. Even in school other students would talk about him a he passed by and him not being able to use any magic only made it worse. Of course he could not say that to the stranger he just met.   
With a helpless smile Adam began eating the gray muddy thing they called food.  
The students still poked it with the spoons that were handed out to them.  
"Don't worry I can guarantee you it's not poisoned."  
Chewing down the last bits in his mouth fist, the blacksmith blurted out the words.  
"Well, better than nothing."   
Digging the gray mud Daisy shoved it into her mouth. Impressed by her courage the other teenager did the same though they took smaller bites than her.  
"That's actually pretty good."   
Gulping down Ivy judged the food.   
"Of course it is. We all know how to cook delicious things even with the worst ingredients."   
Adam was proud.   
"Oh what's inside?"  
"Earthworms, sugar and a secret sauce."   
Clover choked when earthworms were brought up.  
"What?!"  
"Haha! Your face is just too funny now!"   
Daisy pointed at Clover's twitching eye.  
"B-bathroom!" The green haired girl looked terrified.  
"Wait! I'll show you the way!"   
Now panicking as well Adam stood up and took her away.  
"Sear how can you still eat that?"   
Rose faced her brother who was not bothered by the ingredients at all.   
"Well, it still tastes good. Also what did you expect from people who live in a tunnel system."   
One spoon after another entered his mouth.  
"Wow that's the first time I agree with you brainless redhead."   
Daisy nodded.  
"Besides those kinds of earthworms aren't poisonous. So there shouldn't be a problem."   
Lina stood behind them bringing them water.  
The materialisation student ignored the woman and pushed the food away.   
"Rose! Behave."  
Sear glared at his sister who had a bad attitude all the time since the students came here.  
"Sorry for her behaviour."   
A hand waved off the apology.  
"It's alright. If she doesn't want to eat that's fine as well."   
Placing the metal can full of water next to him Lina pated the boy's head.  
"Just make sure she becomes a responsible and polite person like you someday."  
With that she left them alone again.

Responsible. Crsym started thinking about his mother who was everything but responsible. She always laughs problems off. She did not care if Jade was eating healthy enough or just left to go somewhere without even doing part chores in the house. She also never told them where she was going or when she would come back. Maria the so called ‘coolest mom ever’ was not a good adult.   
Mrs. Melton took care of the Kellum children when their mother was away and called them over to stay at their house until Maria came back.  
Crsym took care of everything when he had been old enough to realize that what his mother did was wrong.  
It began when he visited Formeno for the first time. Everything had its place. The food was not always delicious but Mrs. Melton would force them to eat it in order to become strong. Mr. Melton also sat beside them and convinced them that the food is good for them. How Crsym wished that his family would be like that. But no.  
His mother was not like that. Not her. But he was. At least he wanted to be someone like Mr. And Mrs. Melton.   
All his friends were dragged in here because of him. It was his fault they all argued with each other. The boy knew he had to do what's best for them and that would be returning to school and make up with each other.  
"I'm sorry."   
The brunette whispered.  
"Hm?"   
Of course Ivy was the first one who heard him.  
"What did you say?"   
Now everyone was listening to him.  
"I said I'm sorry. I dragged you into this. I don't know what's gotten into me. Wanting to know more about rebels was wrong. I should have believed our teachers,"  
Showing responsibility meant to see his mistakes and accept the consequences that followed.   
"What? You think we're gonna be alright with it now?"   
The red haired girl crossed her arms over her chest.  
"If you want to make it better tell that Arron guy that we are leaving. Now."   
"Rose, my dear friend, shouldn't everyone choose for themselves. As for me I'm staying I can see how they think something is wrong with our government. Plus I like how they treat each other and no boring lessons here."   
Daisy leaned back in her chair, approving the rebel's system.  
"So who's with me folks?"  
For the first time the bluenette was hyped up with burning passion. That was not an everyday sight regarding that she was never this serious about any of her lessons.  
But everybody else stayed quiet.  
Despite their good friendship Ivy just seemed to be on the side Crsym is on. Fidgeting under his best friend's gaze his head hung down.  
"So it's like this."   
"Daisy it's just that we know that these people are bad. They always told us, remember?"   
The greenette tried to explain his position to make sure Daisy did not get a wrong picture of him.  
"Bad?! Does Adam seem like a bad person to you?! Is Lina evil?!"   
She turned to Crsym.  
"Wasn't it your suggestions to find out more about them?! They told us everything they know about magic. They made their point about the system. We saw what happened with Oridé with our own eyes and you still choose that fake system?! And think about it! That was only the beginning of what we did not know!"   
"Yes, but that was wrong of me. If it means that I have to join to find out more than I don't want to."   
“Bird brain! Arron told you thing before we joined!”  
“Why do you want to join them so badly?! I don’t understand!”  
Their fight started to escalate.  
“You’re not even trying to do so!”  
Daisy’s voice started trembling just like her counterpart’s.  
It was unclear whether they just enraged each other or just hurt each other. But it was unarguable that the two of them always triggered something in the other person.  
He was aware of that what they said until now seemed to make sense and matched but if he had to join and became a rebel what would happen to his family. What would happen to Jade? Maybe that was the boy’s winning reason to convince her.  
"What if they do something to our families?"   
Crsym added hoping that Daisy may give into this.  
"To hell with my family! May they burn in Hade´s flames!"  
Anger was rising in her. Family was a touchy topic with her as he now knew.  
By now all the rebels in the dining room stared at them.  
Not caring much for that Daisy stood up and stormed out taking the much easier way. The stairs on one end of the hall.   
"Daisy!"   
Ivy felt the need to stop her but was held back by Clover.  
"Leave her be. She's just too stubborn. Rose is right. We should get out of here as soon as possible."   
The only good thing about all that happened now was that Clover and Rose worked together for once. Though that was not important now.

All of them were deadly quiet for what felt like an eternity for the red eyed magician. The boy could already feel his roommate’s sadness. It felt like giant rocks were placed on his shoulders.  
Crsym left his chair. He had to.  
"We should still try to convince her. She is stubborn but Daisy is your friend, right?"  
He would not do it for himself but for Ivy. Just looking at his friend’s face was more than enough to know that the small boy cared deeply for her.   
Running after the girl he made eye contact with Ivy one last time. Giving him a reassuring smile as the boy took off.

Daisy might have gotten into his view if every person that was in the way did not bump into him.   
Crsym did not even know where she wanted to go and he doubted that she knew it herself. Did she even know her way around?  
"Daisy...! Daisy?!", he called wanting to find and calm her as soon as possible.  
What he would say he didn't know.  
Of course it was obvious that the tunnels were not endless but it hit him when he finally reached the end of one.   
Crsym leaned his head against the wall.   
"Where could she be?"   
"Making out with the wall, huh?"   
A voice called from behind.  
The student spun around to see the water magician. Her curly untamed hair fell over her shoulder. Instead of the uniform the rebel wore a soldier’s uniform. She had a belt around her waist, which emphasized her hips but also her slightly chubby belly. This was paired with balloon pants and high boots almost covering her full knee. All in all she looked like a little girl in a costume rather than the evil rebel she was always described as.  
Iris began laughing.   
"What's wrong? Was I actually right?"   
"N-no!"   
The boy's reaction came too late.   
Again laughter.   
"Whatever you say."   
She patted his head.   
"So who are you looking for?"   
Iris began tying her hair while talking.  
"Daisy. The girl with the blue pigtails."   
"Well, she'll show up again eventually."   
"Eventually?"  
"We have some traps for intruders you know? Who knows what might happen when someone steps on them."   
A grin was forming in her face. Crsym on the other side was just shocked.  
"What?!"   
Suddenly her cheeks puffed up as if she held something back.   
"Hahaha! It was a joke! I'm just kidding."   
The black eyed girl pointed at a direction.   
"I think I heard people talking about a daisy that way."  
She pointed back to the way he came from.  
"Just turn right on the first chance."   
Her way of talking to others was mockingly. Crsym could not tell if it was an honest reply or just a lie but he had no other choice.  
The small girl took him by the shoulders and pushed him to the right direction.  
"Just go already."   
"O-okay!" 

Running off the student looked back at the legendary one last time.  
Crsym made sure to follow the directions Iris told him a minute ago.   
The tunnel which was on the right side was almost just as narrow as the one going down to the dining room.  
Still the sharp edges hurt him and his uniform was dirty and bathed in dust.  
Finally the long way ended and the magician could step out and stretch his body. The student enjoyed moving his body freely again.   
It took the brunette a while to realize where he was.  
The new environment was illuminated in a colourful light. A gigantic machine was opposite of Crsym.   
It looked old and dirty. The metal was uneven. Iron arms spread from the thick square main part. Those arms were rather thin and scattered in different directions. Only one large pipe was thick and lead up to the surface.   
Despite its looks the machine did not make any noise. It was unclear for what it was.  
Slowly taking a step forward Crsym wanted to have a closer look at it until something hit his ankle and slung around within a second.  
But before he knew it all of sudden the boy hung upside down.   
"What the-?!"   
Not needing any time to know what happened the magician cursed himself. This was a trap. That girl led him here on purpose.  
To check the height Crsym looked down only to see a single daisy. Not the person but the flower. It was not even a real flower it was simply a toy. So that cleared up the part of people seeing a daisy here.  
Slowly his head felt heavier. And he could feel the blood rushing down.  
What would happen now? Would somebody come and give him a lecture? Or would they just keep him hanging here upside-down? Would Iris just leave him like that?  
He could not accept that fate. The teenager swung around back and forth but it did not help him at all. Not until a small noise took his attention.  
A tiny square opened like a window opposite of him.   
Not wasting any time something shot out of it and hit his forehead so hard that his whole body swung back again. A toy arrow which was now glued to his head was on his forehead. The boy tried to pull it off. With success it came off.  
He looked at the toy on which was a note.  
"LITTLE CHILDREN SHOULDN'T GET NEAR GIANT MACHINES."   
It was certainly a trap. A trap for bratty children to add. And he fell for it.  
The remaining question, beside the one where Daisy is, was now, how Crsym was supposed to get down again.  
They sure wouldn't just leave children hanging there. At least he tried to convince himself that this would not be the case. But nothing else happened. No alarm or anything like that.  
Of course the teenager could just try to get his foot out of the rope but as he looked down one more time, the boy was afraid of falling on the hard ground.  
Like Ivy said multiple times Crsym tried to be positive. The good thing was that he learned not to trust Iris. Yes, that was most definitely a bad idea.

"You always get in trouble, don't you?"   
The brunette knew that voice. It was the fire magician.   
"It wasn't me. This...ehm Iris..."   
He stuttered.  
"She tricked you. I know. When she passed me she laughed off her ass and told me."   
Magaritte took something out of her boots.  
"What are doing?"  
No matter how he moved since the legendary stood too far behind him he could not see her.  
"Get you down of course."  
"How will you-"   
Before he finished the girl threw a knife at the rope. It hit it directly and as shapr as it was the rope was cut off Crsym was about to fall. Ready to scream as he shut his eyes the student was caught princess style.   
"You know it's actually not that high. The kids here can come down on themselves."   
The black eyed magician looked up. For some reason the boy never felt so beautiful. Still being held by her made him feel safe.   
His face started heating up.   
"Thank you Maga-."   
"Just Mag is alright."  
She let him down. Now he could look at her fully. Just like her partner she had a soldier uniform. Though her jacket was shorter and a black top was revealed as it was left open. Mag wore cargo pants in military style underneath it and had brown boots on, which were not as high as Iris’s.  
He smiled nervously.  
"Thank you Mag."  
Suddenly the student remembered why he was actually there in the first place.  
"Did you see Daisy by any chance?"  
"The pig tails girl?"  
"Yes! Did you see her?"  
Hope started reflecting on Crsym's visage.  
“Well...”  
The female brunette started.  
"No not really."   
A flat answer.   
Did she get my hopes up on purpose? But she doesn't seem like her partner. Not really at least. But it's weird. It's already the second time she saved me.  
"How long are you gonna stare at me? Is there something on my face?"   
Mag must have been annoyed by him silently staring at her.  
Great! Now she thinks I'm weird! Way to go me!  
The boy fumbled around trying to use words again. He needed to say something before it got more awkward.  
"Why do you belong to these people?"  
It certainly was strange. Also he did not want to ask a stupid question or say a bad pick up line like Sear recommended in these kinds of moments.  
Mag seemed more like a hero than a rebel.  
"These people? These people are my family if you really want to know. They are the reason I'm here."   
She shot a glare at him.  
"But they took you away from-"   
Stopping Crsym from talking Mag casually put a hand over his mouth and pressing against it so much that it hurt the boy slightly.  
Was she about to tell him her side of the story?  
"If you're going to say safety place I'm gonna punch you so hard that even your grandchildren will still feel it."  
No, she threatened him.  
"Look, didn't you want to find out the truth? If so you should pretend like you don't know anything about us. That's how you will find your own truth."   
The warm hand was taken away. A burning feeling was left behind on his mouth.  
"My own truth?"   
"Yes, you know how you see things and experienced them."  
He thought about something .About how Daisy stated that Adam and Lina were in fact not evil.   
Was that Daisy's truth?   
Adam and Lina were her reason?   
No, that impossible she only knew them for a few hours. At least it seemed impossible.   
"Hey if you want to find your friend just standing there and biting your lip won't help."  
Mag turned around and left the student alone. Crsym did not move an inch. He watched the legendary magician leave. 

"I'm so confused."   
The boy whispered to himself. He crunched down on the floor.  
"I have to take responsibility for the others. I have to find my own truth. What is it I have to do?"   
His head wandered back to the time when Arron agreed to let them stay for one night.  
His fearless look. He definitely did not have problems making a decision. Even now he just trusted the students when the red eyed magician told them that he could be useful. It was a stupid reasoning her gave the leader. They could be spies but Arron did not seem to think about it too much. Or rather he already knew what to do about people like that. It was clear that Crsym could never become someone like that.  
He never knew what to do when things did not work the way he thought they did.   
"What do I do?"   
Repeating this question over and over again the teenager hoped to find an answer.  
Responsibility or the truth?   
The student imagined scenarios following either choice. If he chose the rebels that would mean he helped random people the boy did not even know.   
Into his mind came Mrs. Melton's advice.  
"Never trust strangers no matter how kind they may seem."  
That was right.  
What if they are only pretending to get new recruit? Maybe Mag was only saving me because they need more people fighting for them?  
He had to choose and counting the people Crsym had to take care of as well he decided. Or rather his decision did not change. The brunette would go back to school with his friends. It did not matter if Daisy wanted to come along or not. She would have to if the girl still had some reason. For Ivy and her other friends.”


	6. Hello Reality Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are back at School. So everything should be okay....right?  
> Or well let's at at least it should be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> Sorry for not being able to upload in a while but I was really busy with learning for my exams and working on school Projects.  
> To be honest I am not satisfied with this chapter yet but I Need to continue with the story so I still hope you can enjoy it.  
> Thank you for reading it up to now. ^^

Crsym tried to find his way back and this time without talking to anyone. At very best he wanted to avoid that Iris.  
He gave up on finding Daisy. She would come back again anyway if that girl was still sane. That was what the student believed.  
As he strolled along the tunnels his eyes were fixed on the ground. The boy held his head low until he heard someone calling him.

"Crsym" 

Though due the voice’s volume, it was more like just saying the name. It was Formeno.  
After glancing at him for a short second the brown haired magician looked away again.

"What is it?"

"I need to talk to you." 

In his pale arms Formeno held other clothes. The black haired magician also changed. He now wore a black T-shirt and dark green short pants with black half boots. Crsym did not know why his childhood friend needed to wear leggings underneath them.

"It's about you joining us. You know if you choose dual blades as weapons I could teach you."

Formeno seemed hyped up even if a lot of people would not be able to tell. For others it would have been just a normal talk but the brunet could tell that it was more than that. Nonetheless he had to disappoint him. Crsym wanted to understand Formeno. He wanted to understand him so desperately. He wanted to know more about those years they spent apart from each other. 

‘What were you doing?’  
‘Why did you join the rebels?’  
‘Why did you suddenly stop talking to me? And now you are like this again.’

But there was no way the boy would be able to ask his old friend that. Somehow the thought of Formeno’s previous behaviour stopped him.

"I'm not joining."

It may have felt like a slip of the tongue but Crsym knew that this was what he wanted to say. He was almost certain of it.

"Why?"  
"Because I have to take responsibility. The others don't trust them and want to go back. As the one who led them here I also have to bring them back."  
"Then just let them go back. You can stay here. There is nothing you have to do." 

A cold icy tone was in the rebel’s voice. This only made Crsym more irritated.

"Of course! They are my friends you know?!"  
"I am as well. Am I not your best friend? Crsym I know you better than anyone else. Joining would be better for you."

Silence. It hit him like an arrow through the heart. But the magician realized it. It was impossible to deny it. Formeno was his best friend. Whenever he was getting picked on the raven head would come to cheer him up. Whenever he was lonely his friend would rush to his side. That was right. Formeno WAS his best friend.  
Crsym wanted work things out but that seemed unlikely to happen. No matter what scenario the boy tried to imagine it somehow always ended up the same. The outcome of each thought was the worst case. That only meant one thing. It was unavoidable.

"You are not. Not anymore. Not since half a year ago I think."  
Formeno said nothing more after receiving those words back from the student and just locked eyes with the other boy for a moment.  
Crsym felt the urge to shout at him. To blame him that their relationship was like this now but he held himself back. It was the other boys fault.  
"Where is your leader?" 

The red eyed one’s voice was shaking slightly. Gulping down his anger the boy tried to sound as calm as possible. His wish that someone else would have been there right now grew bigger.

"Still office I guess. I'll take you there." 

The way the rebel talked seemed like he was whispering now though it was still loud enough for the red eyed teenager to hear him.  
As Formeno took the lead while the other magician silently followed him.  
Crsym’s heart was throbbing. Not in a comfortable way or the way it would when he was excited. No. It was like his heart was about to burst from his chest just to get away.  
His legs felt heavy as if he had to drag himself to follow the other person until the two teenagers stood in front of the wooden door again.

"Thank you", the brunette mumbled. 

Talking with his childhood friend seemed strange now. He felt that he would never be able to chat normally to him again. Not the way things were right now.  
Formeno left him alone, sensing that there was no need for him to be near Crsym any longer.  
Three knocks at the door. While doing so the red eyed boy took a deep breath and reminded himself to stay composed when Arron would be standing in front of him. 

"Come in!"

Opening the door slowly, avoiding the creaking noises the teenager entered the room.  
Arron sat there concentrating on some documents. The man took off some kind of plugs which were in his ears.

"What is it?"

A wrinkle was forming between his eyebrows. He must have been working this whole time. Crsym also does not remember seeing him at the dining room.  
'Though what does he actually work on?'

"Did you just come here to uselessly stand around?" 

Finally the man looked up.

"N-no! It's just about joining."

The teenager scratched his one hand with the other one. 

"So you already decided? You know you can still sleep and think it over again. I can almost guarantee you guys no one will try to do anything to you."  
“almost guarantee?”  
“Well, I never know what Iris is about to do.” 

All of sudden the leader smiled for once. A boyish smile which made him appear 10 years younger.  
Another deep breath was taken by the young magician.

"I want to go back with the others. We all have already decided. There is no need to stay here any longer."  
"Is that also you personal decision?"  
"Yes?" 

It was more of a question than an answer.  
Crsym carefully met Arron's gaze again and the smile from before disappeared completely, though he did not appear to be angry or disappointed either. That made the leader even more suspicious for the teenager. It was like the calm before the storm.

"Very well." 

Now the storm did not come. Or was it delayed?

"So we can just go home again and you won't do anything to us?"  
"That's what I said, right?" 

Both waited another minute in silence. It really did not come.

"So nothing at all?" 

To reassure himself once more Crsym asked again.

"Do you want me to do something?" 

The brunette shook his head in hurry.

"Good."  
"How...do we go back?

Arron stood up.

"I'll escort you till the exit of the tunnel."  
"You will?"  
“Do I have to say everything twice to you? I said I will do so.” 

Crsym felt bad somehow. Though he convinced himself that this man's kindness was not real. He repeated it in his mind over and over again. The magician had to go with his firends.

"The others are still in the dining room I think."  
"Meaning you don't know how to get there as well."  
The younger one stiffened up.  
"Yes..." 

Patting the brunette while passing, the man tousled the teenager's hair.  
"Then let's get going. I have other things to do as well."  
This action somehow angered Crsym. It reminded him of his mother. Whenever she left him alone the woman would pat his head.  
He himself ruffled through his hair again, as the boy followed the leader.  
As the two walked down the way to their destination Arron started a conversation again.

"What can you do?"  
"Huh?"  
"I mean you eyes."  
"Oh..."  
Crsym stuttered. He could not control that nervous part of himself.  
"I don't know. I don't think they can do anything. I already tried everything but nothing ever happened."  
"Sorry." 

'He must think I'm pitiful or something. I didn't want to sound like that.'  
The student had to say something. But it was in vain. All that came out were soundless huffs and useless air gasping.  
A long annoyed sigh by Arron followed. A sigh which already sounded like 'God damn calm down boy'.  
Attempting to restart the talk with another topic, which was much more important right now and less hurting for Crsym, the teenager spoke up. 

"Also about Daisy..."  
"The girl with the pigtails, right?"  
"Yes, her."  
"What about her?"  
"She got kinda angry and just dashed off. I tried to find her but..."  
"But you couldn't and so you gave up on convincing her to come with you"  
The former solider finished it.  
"I- I didn't give up!"  
"Okay but as you were not able to find your friend you just quit and decided to tell me about your decision."  
"Yes."  
"So what would you call that?"  
"Giving up."  
Defeated the student admitted it.  
"Why did you go after her in the first place if you were just going to end up like this?"  
"I-...I did it for my friend!"  
"So you did not only give up, you also let down your friend. Hearing this actually makes me glad you not joining us."  
Now Crsym was sure that Arron Cliff tried to make upset him. This guy was not friendly. Definitely not.  
Was that a tactic to scout him as well? Making someone look bad so they join to feel better? It was seriously irritating him. He behaved like one of the bratty children in Mori who would sulk after not getting dessert.  
The student stayed silent. After all he could not say anything and even if he did, Crsym would not have the guts to talk back to the man now, since he might actually be angry at him.  
Repeating Mrs. Melton's words in his head to convince himself that the boy was doing the right thing.

"Crsym, there you are!"  
As soon as they arrived Ivy ran towards his roommate totally ignoring the leader.  
"These guys seriously want to get out of here as quickly as possible. This tension is unbearable."  
Whispering into His friend's ear the greenette explained that that no one of their group said one word the whole time.  
This was not normal for them.

"Where is Daisy?"  
The question finally came.  
"Well, I...I couldn't find her so..." 

No. Crsym would not say the same thing as Arron and for sure not next to her best friend.  
But then it happened. Whenever Ivy was just a little bit troubled it would show on his face. If that occurred his eyes would become bigger than usually. Making him look like a sad puppy. A sad, green, fluffy puppy which nobody could resist to cuddle. 

"I'm sorry Ivy. I really did want to but I guess if Daisy-"  
"It's alright. Daisy always does what she wants at the end. Sorry to have troubled you with that."  
Ivy may have said that it was ok but his expression said more than thousand words. He wanted to talk to the girl.  
"If the two of you are done flirting then I would like to explain the other's about your departure."  
Arron finally broke off their whispering  
"We are not!"  
Crsym blushingly denied with Ivy nodding in agreement next to him.  
"Just explain it already old man! "  
Rose finally snapped.

"Rose, calm down. You're being overly aggressive since we came here. You are not like yourself."  
Sear put his hand on his sister's shoulder as she was slowly starting to get back to herself again. Still, it did not change that the girl was visibly furious.  
Even Clover must have felt intimidated by the person she would normally order around. 

Nobody but Crsym noticed that Arron stared at the red haired girl with a yet unidentified expression.  
Bitterness, Worry or was that the face he wore when he was about to strike someone down.  
"What I was about to say was that I will let you leave today since you've already made a decision."  
Arron skimmed the students.  
"I will escort you till the end of the tunnel."  
"Wait. What? You will? But you do know that they are after you?"  
The greenette jumped up.  
"But isn't that dangerous for you? They will capture you the minute you enter the-"  
Ivy...no everyone was speechless as soon as a clicking noise echoed in the room. No words needed.  
"Let's just hope I won't need it."  
Everybody's mouth was sealed.  
"Don't worry this will only be for the worst case."  
The leader put it back again. This time the students were able to see where he hid it.  
"We'll take the other entrance."

Mindlessly the students followed him. Always one step behind him.  
Expect for Rose who held the distance of at least 3 meters to him.  
Every student worried about her. Even Clover who seemed to forget about her jealousy and started walking beside her boyfriend's sister.  
If Daisy was there she might have questioned her classmate but no one had even thought about doing so.  
"Hey...um...we're going back now. So I think everything is going to be okay."  
Clover tried to be kind to her but she received no response.  
"You know...because of Crsym we're all in the same boat now so I just thought that-"  
"I don't care."  
Rose rudely interfered.  
"Stop that act. It's only because my brother is watching anyway."  
"No! This time it's not like that!"  
The telekinesis student defended herself but it was all for nothing. Rose continued to ignore her which was really uncommon.  
Sear was simply starring at them. By now he did not even care for his sister's behaviour. He must have given up on calming her down.  
Crsym looked back before turning away from the three. There was nothing he could do about it. Their relationships fell apart and it was his fault. Not that Clover and Rose had a good one to begin with but still Rose never acted so cold.

His red eyes focused on what's in front of him again. Soon his attention was directed to his roommate.  
Ivy was now trying to avoid the muddy places. He was still dirty from the time before but unlike the others the greenette looked happy and held onto his carefree personality.  
Playfully tiptoeing after Arron and giving Crsym a smile or a grimace now and then.  
This appeared to be the only normal thing left in this mess. If the two boy would have been in the hallway Crsym would be complaining about his friend right now and tell him to walk normally but at the moment Ivy’s actions felt soothing and comfortable in a way.  
The last smile lasted until Ivy unintentionally ran into Arron's back.  
"Watch where you're going."  
The tanned man simply warned him as he checked the upper side of the tunnel.  
His hands carefully brushed the earth until a sound was released from one of them.  
Sand and dust crumbled down. Covering the former soldier’s hair. At least it did not get into his eyes.  
"How come they could build all these tunnel without having anyone notice these?"  
Ivy casually asked.  
To this question Arron simply shrugged as he climbed up the tunnel. He either did not want to answer or just didn't know it himself.

The rest followed closely after him.  
Finally they were back. Everyone seemed to be much calmer.  
They were now somewhere around the backside of the gym Crsym supposed.  
Slowly each of them looked around.  
His red eyes found Arron sitting down on the grass and lay down  
'Is he...relaxing?!'  
Each of them must have had the same thought judging by his friends’ expression. Eyebrows raised, eyes twitching and open mouths. Everything was covered. From shocked to simply irritated.  
"What are you waiting for? Go inside...I'll just...lay down for a while."  
Arron put his head on his arms. The dust from before gradually fell off his head. This guy definitely planned something. 

Rose clicked her tongue.  
"Whatever. Let's just go to the gym. I don't care about this traitor."  
The red haired girl simply stomped away with three other students at her heels.

Crsym stayed back, looking at Arron.  
There was something about him. That man knew something they didn't and he wanted them to notice it.  
One question and his world might have changed.  
But it did not.  
The student turned away and followed his friends, repeating Mrs. Melton's advice.

"Are you really okay with this decision?"  
Ivy asked as he walked next to Crsym.  
"Of course. I don't even know why I thought this would be a good idea or why i thought we could trust them. Just because she was kind enough to save me."  
His red eyes darted down. He still wanted to know more about them but it just wasn't the right way apparently.  
"I dragged you all into that. Guess I didn't want to do this alone. Sorry."  
Ivy walked closer to Crsym. His green hair tickled the other boy's cheek.  
"Sometimes we do things and then wish we did something else instead. Some humans tend to regret almost every single action they've ever made that goes back to the day they were born. It's natural to think that way." 

Baffled the boy watched his roommate.  
"Ivy...did you really just say that?"  
The small boy grinned adorably.  
"Oh that's just something I heared. Don't take it too seriously. It's not something I would actually say. If you chose to do something, do it till the end without regret."  
Crsym nodded. Not because he agreed. He still had his doubts. Like always.

"Finally! The gym!"  
Rose ran towards the giant door.  
Trying to catch up to her the other students followed her fast.  
All of them looked at the silver doorknob with excitement. Sure a doorknob was never more exciting to them than this one.  
"I just hope they won't be too mad at us."  
With that hopeless wish being said Rose slowly pushed down the handle while the others could only picture Mrs. Dandel furiously lecturing them.  
The door opened with a loud stretched creak.  
Rose happily took the first step inside only to freez on the spot the next second.

"Rose? What's wrong?"  
Her brother put his hands on her right shoulder.  
She broke down like fragile glass.  
"Nobody..."  
The girl whispered to herself in fear.  
"Why is nobody here?!"  
This time she shouted at her brother. Turning to him in an instant and grabbing his shoulders desperately.  
"Rose! I don't know!"  
Sear spoke in a strict manner, which was unusual for the redhead.  
"Sear! Look inside!"  
As the older student's foot hit the floor inside a creepy feeling surrounded him.  
His purple-green eyes dared to check what met his shoes.  
"What the-?!"  
Sear moved back again. He rubbed his shoe against the ground. A dark blue sticky fluid was now glued to it.  
"It's not blood?"  
Rose seemed to be relieved for no reason.  
"Yeah...but what is this?!"  
Her brother on the other hand was the exact opposite. 

Everyone looked puzzled until Clover touched touched her left arm.  
"Defloureo..."  
She whispered to herself.  
"It has the same colour."  
Her boyfriend finished what she began.  
"Wait! What does that mean?"  
Rose on the other side could not keep her composure as well as Sear. He touched the blue fluid and ignored his sister.  
"Do you guys think they were telling the truth?"  
The oldest of them asked them as he rubbed the fluid off on Crsym's sleevefrom whom he only gained an "Ew".  
"I mean I saw what's on your mind but that doesn't explain anything yet."  
"Oh come on brother! I bet the rebels are behind all of this!"  
"How and when? Rose, we can't say things for sure yet. I'm not saying it's not possible that they did it while we were distracted. I'm just trying to see everything from a neutral point of view."  
Though it was not really clear but in moments like this everyone would for once believe that Sear aces his classes without cheating.  
The red haired student looked at the door again.  
"I'm going in." 

"Wait. Are you sure? But it seems dangerous to go alone."  
Crsym now jumped into the conversation.  
"Who said I'm going alone?"  
Sear patted his friend's shoulder with a sadistic smile.  
"You got us all into this mess. So how about you accompany me?"  
There was no way this guy would take a 'no' as an answer.

"Why don't we all go in?"  
Clover suggested as she put her hand around her chin.  
"No. I think it's better if only two go in and search for hints. If someone is coming just tell us. It will be easier to escape or well to ask for help. If something happens I only have to take care of one person. Also having multiple people keeping an eye open is safer as well."  
The male redhead urged his friend towards the cold door while still explaining his decision to his girlfriend.  
Sear pushed open the dark blue metal door.

As Crsym was forced inside the boy couldn't make out a single thing in the room.  
Normally the gym was illuminated by the sunshine that comes through the big windows.  
The blue floor paired up with the high white walls used to remind people of the sky.  
Colorful lines marked the lines for certain sport games.  
It never matched with the sweaty smell.  
Though that was all that was left. Every other impression from before vanished.  
Dark and cold.  
The gym was now a room the student's didn't know anymore.  
It seemed lonely and empty despite the fact that all students should actually be here.  
Through the windows the night sky was covered by the tree's leaves hid it.

Crsym did not notice when it changed. Was it already like this when the students all assembled her?  
First the new student held onto his friend's sleeve.  
"Don't tell me you're scared Crsym."  
He could already imagine Sear's smug expression.  
"A little bit. But I don't want to hear that from a person who is trembling."  
Now the red head was most likely embarrassed.  
"Shut it! Who's not scared of the dark? I could also just leave you alone, you know?"  
Sear justified himself and complained as he carefully took one step after another.  
Each time their feet hit the ground splashing noises followed as if the ground was one big puddle.  
"Shouldn't there be some kind of switch for the lights?"  
The brunette had enough of almost tripping for what felt like every 3 seconds.  
"Just bear with it."  
As expected the almost tripping became a falling down.  
Face down into the thick fluid.  
"Ews! You alright?"  
Engrossed the mind reading student helped the other boy up.  
Crsym quickly took off his cardigan and wiped his face with it. It was torn and dirty anyway.  
"I think I'm okay. I just fell over something."  
The boy shivered from the feeling of having the fluid on his face. Some of it still stuck on his cheek like glue. 

Sear kneeled down and put his hands in the puddle.  
"If you tripped over something that means here is something."  
As his hand reached a few inches before the red eyed one, the older boy finally found something.  
"Okay. I got some-..."  
Feeling up the object Sear paused.

"Some what?"  
Now the sound of something being thrown away echoed in the room followed by chocking noises. By then the brunett realized that his friend was in the middle of throwing up.  
"Sear what's wrong?!"  
Crsym put one hand on Sear's back. waiting until he calmed down a little.  
Slowly with each passing minute Sear's breath was getting steadier.  
"Are you alright again?"  
"I...I think I just touched..."  
His friend mumbled something but decided not to tell the toher boy.  
"Let's get out of here."  
The red head forced himself to speak up. With his whole body shaking Sear held onto the other one and pulled himself up.  
Crsym supported his friend put again. They tumbled a lot more on the way back. Now it was not only dark but the taller one also had problems keeping himself up properly.  
But this time none of them fell. Making sure of that by being a lot slower this time the new student whispered before taking one step further out. 

"Wow you sure weren't in there long. Something happened?"  
Ivy who relaxed against the door frame raised an eyebrow curiously as he saw Sear's face.  
His eyes then wandered to his roommate as he got not answer from the other one.  
"Well, it's impossible to find something when everything is so dark."  
Crysm replied while helping Sear to sit down.  
Soon after that Clover hurried to his side. Rose still stood a little bit apart from the group. Her arms crossed in front of her chest. Her back turned towards her friends.  
"We need to get out of here."  
The male redhead now mumbled under his breath.  
His girlfriend looked at him worryingly.  
"Why? We just got back!"  
"I don't care! Let's get out of here!" 

The girl's yellow eyes focused on her boyfriend's mouth. Her slender fingers slowly brushed over his mouth to take a better look at the vomit that was slightly stuck there.  
She looked at it. The girl bit her lip as if she was trying to deny something. No. Not as if. She did try. But could not.  
"Sear you need to calm down. We're on the edge."  
The boy just nodded as he understood. These two seemed to leave Crsym, Ivy and Rose in the dark. But the Red eyed one did remember Arron saying something like this. Though he did not find any meaning behind those words yet.

Clover set her attention on Crsym and Ivy.  
"If what Arron said is true-"  
"Stop assuming this nonsense!"  
Rose shouted at the other girl.  
"Rose I know that it's hard to belive."  
The female greenette approached her.  
"It doesn't seem like you're having any trouble!"  
"Just because we don't behave like you doesn't mean that we don't have trouble with that. Look I am just really doing my best to stay calm. Believe me it is for the best."

Despite Rose shouting at her Clover kept her cool.  
"Look let's say that Arron was lying. Then where is everyone? Our academy seems abandoned even though it was lively this morning. And let's not forget about this."  
She showed Rose her hand showing her what her brother vomited.  
It was the same dark blue fluid Sear stepped into.  
Clover took a deep breath as she couldn't reach Rose yet.  
"I know I wasn't very kind to you. I was jealous of your close relationship with Sear. So I behaved like a bitch. I'm sorry about that."  
The girl confessed her true feelings in front of everyone.

"But you have to trust me. I wouldn't say these things if it wasn't a serious matter. If this is a disease then we need to do something about it."  
"Why the hell would you believe that guy?!"  
She carefully touched Rose's shoulder only to hear soft crying.  
"Too late."  
The red haired girl stuttered.  
"It's already hurts!"  
She pushed Clover away and swirled around to face her.  
Her bottom lip was swollen and blue fluid dripped down from her nose.  
"Why are you saying that now?!"  
Rose crunched down holding her stomach and coughing out what has just left her nose.  
"It hurts!"  
Shakingly she held onto her uniform trying to pull ot off. Her face was burning up.  
Sear was about to dash to her side but Clover already held her one more time.  
"It's- It's not too late! We'll find Arron I bet he can heal you! If it's a disease there has to be a medicine as well!" 

The girl tried to pick up the female redhead. Her arms were put around Rose and no matter how much she was struggling against it Clover's would not let go of her.  
The other students just watched the scene in panic.  
By now Rose spit out more. It all landed on the other girl's back.  
It escaped her eyes now as well.  
Panting and painful groans were the only sounds.  
Her bottom lip's defloureo popped out like a zit.

"Clover let go! It's dangerous!"  
Ivy grabbed the girl by the collar and pulled her away from Rose.  
"Ivy maybe we could-!"  
The female magician was about to protest but it was in vain.  
"We can't! If it's like that than..."  
The smaller one could not even finish.  
Crsym knew exactly what he meant. If it was just like in Oridé's case than it was too late to help her.


End file.
